The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Department of Human Resources" ...
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"Breach of Trust"
Soldiers on all levels of the U.S. Armed Forces used fake college diplomas to increase chances of "promotions and pay raises." WHNT-TV revealed that several AMCOM employees had also presented "fake degrees" to the "Department of the Army." The investigation spurred a reconstruction of HR Specialist training, as the command's "ability to detect" to false diplomas was severely flawed.
Tags: U.S. Army; National Guard; Army Reserve; Department of the Army; U.S. Army and Department of Defense; General David Grange; Major General Jim Pillsbury; Army Aviation and Missile Command; U.S. Army Human Resource Command
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Innocence Lost
The story concerned the short life of Evelyn Miller, a young girl found slain after she disappeared from her home near Floyd,IA. The investigation revealed a life of neglect, including being overlooked by the Department of Human Resources. The reporters also investigated the extensive search for the girl in the days that followed her disappearance.
Tags: child pornography; neglect; child abuse; FOIA; drugs; parental rights
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A Failure to Protect: Maryland's Troubled Group Homes
About 2,700 youths live in 330 privately-run group homes in Maryland. Although the state licenses, funds and supposedly regulates the homes, it fails to adequately protect the interests of children or of the taxpayers who are paying for their care. Children suffer abuse and neglect in the absence of strong state oversight. Regulators often license unqualified operators and then rely largely on them to police themselves. Some owners collect high salaries, enjoy expensive perks and reward friends and relatives with lucrative jobs or contracts, all paid for by the state.
Tags: group homes; Department of Human Resources; Evershine Residential Services; Social Services; bureaucracy; Office for Children; Youth and Families; children
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Opportunity of Exploitation?
These stories deal with how a company, Maxi Staff Inc., used promises of good pay, great housing and the chance to escape poverty and high unemployment to recruit laborers for Puerto Rico to work in U.S. meat processing plants. The stories revealed how, once they were in the United States, the laborers' dreams turned to dust and they found themselves in an unfavorable economic situation. The company charged recruits for the recruits' flights to the U.S. They were put in substandard and unsanitary housing. Workers made less money than they had originally been told, often making less than $100 for a 40-hour week. Recruits who fell ill or got injured on the job were fired and evicted from their housing with 48 hours notice.
Tags: Maxi Staff Inc.; poverty; unemployment; Puerto Rican Laborers; U.S. meat processing plants; U.S. Department of Labor; Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration; Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources; Ronell Industries; Empire Kosher; Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry; Catholic Social Services; Council of Spanish Speaking Organizations; Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church; U.S. Department of Labor's Employment Standards Administration Wage and Hour Division; OSHA; Puerto Rican recruits; Pennsylvania Statewide Latino Coalition
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Taken for a Ride
This story is about how non-profits sold clunker cars to welfare recipients while used-car dealers reaped millions. The non-profit Wheels-to-Work program managers set up exclusive deals with friends who sold used cars to the program. The state spent $10,700 per person, but bought cars that cost $2,300 on average, and twice as much as programs in other states. State officials didn't start to monitor the program until two years after it started, and overlooked suspected fraud and mismanagement.
Tags: car; nonprofit; welfare; welfare recipients; used-car dealers; West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources; Wheels-to-Work Program; Community Action of South Eastern West Virginia; CASE; Belcher's Auto Sales; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program; National Association of Social Workers; AFL-CIO; Human Resources Development Foundation; Good News Mountaineer Garage; DHHR; Legislative Oversight commission on Workforce Investment
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No title (id: 13840)
After extensive investigation into the abuse and neglect deaths of several Alabama children, The Birmingham News showed the state knew the children were in danger before their deaths. Coverage of the deaths led to tips that the state social workers had had previous contact with the families of several of the young victims. After finds that the tips were in fact true, The News conducted an investigation into how the Alabama Department of Human Resources, the agency entrusted with the safety of the state's children is failing. (January - December, 19996)
Tags: Meadows Hall Walsh Littlest victims Contest entry DHR Shaken baby syndrome Foster children 64 pgs.
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Dead wrong
Courier-Journal series documents the sorry state of Kentucky's coroner system. A computer-assisted analysis found that coroners assigned heart disease or heart attack as the cause of death 53 percent of the time despite the 39 percent heart-death average for the state. The series also found that the Department of Human Resources had underfinanced the state's medical examiner program for years. Reform bills were drafted as a result of the investigation.