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 "adult services" ...
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Hospital at Risk
My investigation of the Minnesota Security Hospital, a state-run facility that provides psychiatric treatment to nearly 400 adults deemed "mentally ill and dangerous," uncovered high rates of violence and injuries of employees and patients at the facility, a critical shortage of psychiatrists, and widespread confusion among employees about what to do when a patient becomes violent. I found that much of confusion was the result of the abrasive, threatening management style of head administrator David Proffitt, who was hired in 2011 to reform the facility. I began investigating Proffitt and found he was hired without a basic background check. I uncovered many troubling details from Proffitt's past, including domestic violence, a PhD from a now-defunct online degree mill, a forced resignation from his previous job as the administrator of a private psychiatric hospital in Maine, and other failings. The state ordered Proffitt to resign and the Minnesota legislative auditor began an audit of the department's hiring practices. The assistant commissioner of the Department of Human Services who led the hiring search also resigned. The governor proposed $40 million in renovations to address safety concerns. Regulators from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration visited the facility for the first time in 21 years. The facility also implemented new training for employees to reduce violence. My investigation of the facility continues.
Tags: Psychiatrists; domestic violence; injuries
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Hidden suffering, hidden death
The deaths of severely disabled Illinois residents who lived at home cared for by friends and relatives were not being investigated by the state agency specially created to protect them — the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Human Services. The reason given for not investigating?The agency's internal documents showed that that OIG considered the dead to be "ineligible for services," even when victims died shortly after being hospitalized on an emergency basis and after the agency had received calls on its hotline alleging that the disabled person had been abused or neglected. The Belleville News-Democrat's wide-ranging investigation initially focused on the deaths of 53 of these home bound disabled adults.
Tags: Department of Human Service; Office of the Inspector General; OIGl; victims
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Arrested Development
For thousands of youths accused of crimes, punishment preceeds any conviction. The may be held for months or even years in county jails for -- and sometimes with -- adult suspects. Scripps Howard News Service reports on the 7,500 junveiles in adult jails at any time, their conditions of confinement and how a loophole in federal law allows jails in 29 states to house juveniles with adults.
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Sold On Craigslist
The popular classified website Craigslist was found to be selling underage prostitutes through it's adult services section. The website was not screening ads as promised to uncover trafficking and it was profiting from the sales.
Tags: Craigslist; underage prostitution; prostitution; human trafficking; adult services; classified; advertising; prostitute
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Probate Court: A Troubled System
The investigation exposed a corrupt system within Arizona's probate courts that permitted lawyers and for-profit fiduciary businesses to take advantage of the welfare of vulnerable adults. The Arizona Republic found that in many cases, lawyers appointed to protect the welfare of incapacitated adults were actually paying themselves enormous fees out of their assets of these individuals. Judges, state regulators, and social service agencies violated court orders, disregarded procedure, and failed to keep this from happening.
Tags: probate courts; legal system; court corruption; elderly; welfare
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State of Neglect
"State of Neglect" is a three day series about the failures of Adult Protective Services, the Texas agency created to protect mentally or physically incapacitated senior citzens. In some instances, the APS left elderly citizens living in rat-infested homes, with little contact with the agency. The Dallas Morning News also discovered that the agency only took advantage of their ability to gain legal "guardianship" of the needy seniors in 33 cases in a total of five years.
Tags: Adult Protective Services; senior citizens; living conditions; Health and Human Services; guardianship
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Adult prisons harden teens
The story is about nonviolent juveniles who go to adult prison and come out worse. The author found that non-violent juveniles were more likely than violent ones to come back to prison for committing a new violent crime within three years of release, and that non-violent juveniles were four times as likely as non-violent adults to graduate to a violent crime. The story revealed a lack of rehabilitative programs for juveniles, an environment of violence and racial segregation that hardens teens and a lack of re-entry services. Non-violent juveniles, on average, are completely on their own, without any supervision, 7 1/2 months after they are released.
Tags: teenage criminals; juveniles; convictions; non-violent crimes; prison system; rehabilitation; racial segregation; Proposition 102; GED
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Developmental Disability: Not All Children Grow Up and Move Away
The story was prompted by a lawsuit filed on behalf of seven families with developmentally disabled adult children. The article exposed the state imposed roadblocks that people with disabled children face once that child becomes an adult, including state budget shortfalls and what those numbers mean to the lives of every day people.
Tags: disabilities; Medicaid; ICF/ MR; Developmental Disabilities Services Act
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Filling in the blanks
Washington City Paper examines the reasons for the relatively high dropout rate in D.C. The story looks at the difficulties that those who have left school face, when they try to earn adult basic education. A second, "shadow school system," which consists of adult learning centers at churches and community organizations, enrolls thousands of students per year. Few, however, succeed to pass the General Education Diploma (GED) exam. The reporter points to statistics showing that over the last decade the proportion of students graduating from high schools has been decreasing, while the proportion of those who earn their diploma through alternative means has been increasing. The very low high school graduation rate in D.C. affects the need for city services, limits the ability of private businesses to find trainable employees, and cripples the ability of young mothers and fathers to find jobs that pay a decent wage, the newspaper reports.
Tags: schools; poverty; low income; minorities; unemployment; labor; literacy; GED; adult learning; immigrants
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Deadly Lessons: School Shooters Tell Why
In a two-part series, the Chicago Sun-Times reports on the results of the Secret Service analysis of 37 school shootings, "the findings of the study deserve the attention of every adult. . . In their own words, the boys who have killed in America's schools offer a simple suggestion to prevent it from happening again: Listen to us." The study suggest that there are no stereotypes of a child who kills. They come from a variety of backgrounds, ethnicities, incomes and family lives. Rather, the child sees this as the only option and many of the attacks were planned in advance. In addition, many of the shooters easily obtained guns and often told someone of their planned attack. "The answer, researchers believe, lies more in listening to children, dealing fairly with grievances such as bullying, improving the climate of communication in schools, keeping guns away from children, and investigating promptly and thoroughly when a student raises a concern." Bill Dedman reports more on these issues.
Tags: children; schools; violence; Secret Service; Department of Education; Center for the Prevention of School Violence; teachers; parents; police