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 "group homes" ...
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In God’s Name: Abuse at religious group homes in Florida
The Tampa Bay Times shines a light on unlicensed children's homes, operating for years in rural areas out of plain sight and run by zealous operators who believe they answer only to God.
Tags: Religion; religious group; children
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"The New Tax Man"
This series of stories by the Huffington Post Investigative Fund examines how tough financial times have affected "ordinary" citizens. Reporters revealed how local property tax collectors were "selling the right to collect unpaid taxes to private investors," which could leave homeowners with large extra fees, and the possibility of losing "their home if they are unable to pay."
Tags: taxes; mortgage; interest; unemployment; property tax; Baltimore; Wells Fargo; Bank of America; hedge fund; Fortress Investment Group
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Joint Investigationby Oklahoman and Tulsa World
Reports from the Oklahoma Health Department found more than 830 violations at the residential group homes for the mentally ill and elderly. The reports showed residents were found covered in feces, stolen from, or sleeping on dirty mattresses.
Tags: mentally ill; mentally disabled; oversight; elderly; group home
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"Racial disparities in home lending"
A 2008 analysis of more than half a million home loan applications in the Dayton, Ohio, region revealed that blacks with higher incomes were denied home loans, while lower-income whites were not. The report also found that blacks were more likely to receive "high-cost loans" than whites. The real estate market denies redlining practices that were made illegal "in 1977 by the federal Community Reinvestment Act."
Tags: Home Mortgage Disclosure Act; NICAR; GIS; Community Reinvestment Advisory Group; Dean Lovelace; Dayton Human Relations Commission; Federal Housing Authority; home loans; redlining
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"Medicare and Home Health Care"
The Wall Street Journal investigated the home health care industry, which has seen increased growth during the last few years. After studying the data found in "millions of Medicare files," reporters found evidence of fraudulent behavior. Several home health companies including one of the largest - Amedisys Inc. - are "taking advantage of the Medicare reimbursement system" by finding ways to pay themselves more.
Tags: Amedisys Inc.; Medicare; home health; Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; MedPAC; William Borne; LHC Group; Gentiva Health Services; Almost Family
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"Running in the Shadows"
Ian Urbina investigates the issue of homeless youth. Since the economy has worsened, more teens are abandoning their often troubled homes to live on the street. Urbina also looks at how many homeless teens are forced to turn to prostitution as a means of survival.
Tags: homeless; youth; prostitution; group homes; teenage prostitution; runaways; sex trafficking
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D.C. Government Investigations
The Legal Times series looks into the social and criminal justice problems in Washington. Some included findings that the U.S. Attorney's Office hid details about suspect drug buys by an informant during a major sting operation. Other atricles discuss the suicides of two mentally ill patients in a D.C. jail, and imprisonment of local inmated past their release dates.
Tags: group homes; retarded; handicapped; dry cleaner; Thomas Fitsum Alemayehu; Alicia Edwards; police; Melonie Nelson;
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Missouri’s Mental Health System
KCUR's investigation found that "Missouri's mental health system is in crisis." Group homes had violations, medication errors were made and more. "The state also fined at least five facilities, between 2004 and 2007, for abuse or neglect that led to resident deaths."
Tags: mental health; state; Missouri; medication; funds; health code violations; neglect; abuse; justice system
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Takings Initiatives Accountability Project: The Center for Public Integrity investigates ballot initiatives that would radically change land-use and environmental regulation in five Western states
The [non-partisan]Center for Public Integrity investigated 2006 "ballot initiatives that were designed to radically change land-use and environmental regulation in five Western states. They discovered that a trio of "secret donors" accounted for 99% of the propostions' bankrolls, and some of the initiatives did not comply with campaign-finance and other regulations. Then the Center revealed that 85 percent of the funding was coming from a single wealthy real estate investor and Libertarian activist, Howard RIch All but the Arizona inititative failed at the ballot. The Center for Public Integrity set up a stand-alone website-- www.takings initiatives.org-- and filed more than 50 articles on it. "Our general practice-- and a novel one as far as we can tell-- was to mount verbatim transcripts of the interviews on our website, including audio recordings where available. We sought to allow proponents, opponents funders and experts to have a chance to present their side of the story in their own words." The Center also checked with state and federal regulators for compliance of relevant laws and regulations.
Tags: Takings Initiatives; takings clause; ballot initiatives; land-use regulation; environmental regulation; tax-exempt organizations; Howard Rich; Andrea Millen Rich; Council for Responsible Government; William A. Wilson; state campaign-finance filings; public records requests; state freedom of information requests; America At Its Best; Americans for Limited Government; John Tillman; Howard Ahmanson; Fieldstead & Company; property rights; prefessional signature-gatherers; Colorado At Its Best; term limits; nonprofit advocacy organizations; Sam Adams Alliance; Sam Adams Foundation; Legislative Education Action Drive; Parents in Charge Foundation; Social Security Choice.org; Illinois Charitable Trust Bureau; educational vouchers; tuition tax credits; National Taxpayers Union; First Class Education; Susquehanna International Group; Jeffrey YAss; Cato Institute; Alliance for School Choice; Decision Education Foundation; Eric Brooks; Susan Mitchell; Pete Sepp; Kern Family Foundation; Generac Power Systems, Inc.; Milton Friedman; Taxpayer Bill of Rights; TABOR; Laird Maxwell; This House is MY Home; John Whitehead; Lower Manhattan Development Corporation; Exoxemis, Inc.; Family Farm Preservation Pact; Citizens for Community Protection; Kelo v. City of New London; eminent domain; New York Millionaires Assistance Act; Wallace Global Fund; Nicholas C. Dranias; PRNewswire; Eric O'Keefe; getliberty.com; George Soros
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Wine Tasting Investigation
Inside Edition went to Santa Ynez, California - site of the movie "Sideways" - to look into the possibility that excessive wine tasting can render a person inebriated. While wine tasting is usually done in 1-ounce or slightly more portions, "local law enforcement officials told (Inside Edition) that wine tasters leaving the wineries late in the day to travel along the small two-lane roads create a huge risk to themselves and other drivers." The show found out about a fatal accident that occurred between the wineries and the main highway, with the reporters discovering that "the group had been wine tasting all day, and the driver was three times over the legal limit." Inside Edition "instituted teams to follow wine tasters throughout the day to see how much wine they were drinking before getting back in their cars." They saw one driver who had "nearly 30 tastes, or the equivalent of a bottle and a half of wine, in just five hours" attempt to drive home.
Tags: wine tasting; winery; driving under the influence; DUI; drunk driving; wine consumption