Marisa Kwiatkowski is an investigative reporter for USA Today. She previously was an investigative reporter from 2013 to February 2019 for The Indianapolis Star, where she focused on social services and welfare issues, such as child abuse and neglect, elder abuse, sex trafficking and access to mental health services. Marisa has earned more than 40 journalism awards, including a Sigma Delta Chi Award, Tom Renner Award, the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism and 2019 Louis M. Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism. She previously worked for media outlets in northwestern Indiana, South Carolina and Michigan.

Articles

Ashley Peterson smokes a cigarette just outside of her Airway Motel room in Atlanta.
Health Equity & Social Justice
Children & Families
Healthcare Systems & Policy
Mental Health & Trauma
Community & Public Health

Part 5: Ashley finds the freedom to fall — and to discover her destiny

I met Ashley for the first time in March 2015 at a Noodles & Company in Indianapolis. Her adoptive father Craig Peterson had arranged the meeting. He initially reached out to me about an article I'd written, then shared bits of Ashley's story.

Race and Equity
Mental Health
Domestic Violence
Housing and Homeslessness