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Lauren Hepler

Investigative Reporter

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Lauren Hepler is an investigative reporter at CalMatters focused on government accountability, from lax oversight of California’s homeless shelters and unemployment safety net to the state’s epidemic of deadly drivers. She has spent the past decade covering housing, labor and climate issues for the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Guardian, the LA Times and others. 

Her work has won national awards including the Collier Prize for State Government Accountability and the Poynter Institute’s Local Accountability Reporting Award, as well as honors from the California News Publishers Association and Sacramento Press Club.

She is based in Southern California, grew up in Ohio and graduated from George Washington University and the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. 

Other languages spoken: Spanish (proficient)

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Latest Stories

Denise Russell, propietaria de Special FX Salon & Day Spa en San José, fotografiada en el área de espera de su salón el 15 de enero de 2020. Russell, que ha estado en el negocio durante más de 30 años, dice que extraña a sus clientes y estilistas . Foto de Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters
CalMatters en Español
‘Demasiado poco, demasiado tarde’: las pequeñas empresas de California persiguen el alivio del COVID-19
A medida que se implementan nuevas subvenciones estatales, créditos fiscales y préstamos federales, los propietarios de pequeñas empresas dicen que su supervivencia dependerá más de la reapertura de las reglas, la burocracia y la resolución del caos del desempleo. Lo que suceda a continuación dará forma al mercado laboral del estado en los próximos años.
By • enero 25, 2021
Matt Hoffman pets his Saint Bernard Jackson while on hold with Bank of America at his girlfriend’s house in Escalon on Nov. 13, 2020. Hoffman, who has been unemployed since suffering a stroke last year, has been unable to access his benefits since July. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters
Economy
California may change how unemployment gets paid
Could jobless Californians soon receive benefits by direct deposit? State legislators are considering reforms and asking Bank of America for answers following a CalMatters investigation into payment problems impacting more than 350,000 unemployment debit cards.
By • noviembre 25, 2020
Stephanie Moore sits with her eight-month-old dog Spooky at a local park in Lawndale, CA, on Nov. 17, 2020. Photo by Tash Kimmell for CalMatters.
Economy
How Bank of America helped fuel California’s unemployment meltdown
After the Great Recession, California signed an exclusive contract with Bank of America to distribute unemployment benefits through prepaid debit cards. A CalMatters investigation reveals that to this day, no one knows how much the bank has made off the deal. Lawmakers are examining the bank’s role in mass account freezes and untold amounts of missing money for thousands of struggling jobless Californians — as well as where the bank may have failed to keep unemployment money safe from fraud.
By and • noviembre 20, 2020

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