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For millions of Americans with special needs -- the disabled, the mentally ill, ex-offenders, youth leaving foster care -- a home is a vital first step toward a stable life. NPR News explores the subject in a yearlong special reporting project, Housing First. In Tuesday's report, NPR's Ina Jaffe profiles a California program that finds homes for youth who are "aging out" of foster care.

Reports suggest former Vermont governor Howard Dean will suspend his campaign for president Wednesday. Dean was once the perceived frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, but he's failed to win any of the 17 primaries and contests held so far. Dean may leave open the prospect of returning to the race. Hear NPR's Bob Edwards and New York Times reporter Jodi Wilgoren.

The panel investigating the Columbia disaster releases its final report on what caused the space shuttle to break up Feb. 1. The report confirms the theory that foam debris from the shuttle's fuel tank severely damaged the craft during liftoff. But it lays the ultimate blame on mismanagement at NASA, citing organizational and cultural shortcomings. Hear NPR's David Kestenbaum.

Confusion surrounds reports that Sunni militants have taken more than 100 Shiite hostages in Madaen, south of Baghdad. Searches by Iraqi forces found no evidence of kidnappings. The kidnapping reports -- carried on Iraqi television -- highlight how quickly rumors spread in a country plagued by daily violence and sectarian tensions.

The stinging criticism of Congress contained in the Sept. 11 Commission report received mixed reviews on Capitol Hill today, where some called for approval of the commission's recommendations but others were non-committal. House Republican leaders said the government was already doing what it should to stop terrorism. NPR's David Welna reports from the Capitol.

NPR's John Burnett sends a postcard from Ft. Benning, Ga., where he spent a week with a bunch of reporters undergoing training for war.

Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai is receiving treatment in the United Kingdom, after being shot last week by the Taliban. New York Times video and print correspondent Adam Ellick spent months documenting the teen's life. He tells host Michel Martin about the "small video star" that he knows.

campaigning in Florida.

Latino students make up the largest minority group of America's school-age population -- and there's broad consensus in research and policy circles that public schools are not doing a good job of meeting their needs. In the first of a five-part special report on U.S. Latinos and education, NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports from Gainesville, Ga., on one community's efforts to educate the area's burgeoning Hispanic population.