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 "welfare reform" ...
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Unprotected: An Investigation o Sacramento County's Child Protective Services
A dozen years after the 1996 torture-death of one boy triggered major reforms within Sacramento County's Child Protective Services, -- and resulted in a quadrupling of the agency's budget and doubling of its staff -- many of the same problems persist in 2008. The Sacramento Bee found that, despite the massive increase in resources, numerous children continue to be injured or killed who had prior involvement with Sacramento's CPS. Among the problems detailed by The Bee: inadequate supervision and training, sloppy investigations, poor evaluation of children's risk, lack of accountability for serious mistakes. In its follow-up stories, which prompted a grand jury investigation, The Bee used a new state law related to child deaths to push CPS to release case files and found it had illegally altered the records of one boy who died in their care.
Tags: child protective services; county government; torture; child welfare; government agency; government accountablity; child services
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Subsidized Ex-cons
"The State of Illinois is paying ex cons to baby-sit in a little known program under the Welfare Reform act."
Tags: convicts; welfare; FOIA; government
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Welfare reform: Many go off rolls, but still stay poor
An Observer analysis of welfare data from nine Charlotte-area counties revealed the welfare reforms of 1997 to be less successful than some politicians claimed. Although caseloads have been trimmed in half over the last decade, taxpayers still haven't saved any money. Monthly checks are redirected into child-care subsidies and other programs that help former recipients. After leaving welfare, many recipients see little improvement in their lives. People who exhaust their welfare benefits are having a tougher time finding jobs than their predecessors, and those who do find jobs often live below the poverty line.
Tags: Computer-assisted reporting; CAR; welfare; food stamps
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The Invisible Population: homelessness in the metro
This story outlines the severity of homelessness in the "metro area" - Omaha, NE, and Council Bluffs, IA. The story talks about the number of people affected by homelessness, and personalizes the issue by exploring the debilitating circumstances to which many homeless adults were exposed throughout their lives. The story also talks about the metro's community efforts and explains the structure of an award-winning program that works to address all components of homelessness.
Tags: homelessness; community efforts; Siena/Francis House; Salvation Army's Winter Night Watch Program; Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Center; Omaha-Council Bluffs Consolidated Plan for Community Development Programs; Omaha Area Continuum of Care for the Homeless (OACCH); Welfare Reform Act; HUD; Open Door Mission; National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty
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Crime in the suites
The San Francisco Bay Guardian takes a look at welfare, welfare reform and corporate welfare.
Tags: welfare; San Francisco; welfare recipients; corporate welfare; welfare reform; taxes; deals; welfare wages; contracts
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After Welfare
The New Yorker takes a look at the realities of welfare-reform legislation, about four years after its passage. "Working two jobs, Elizabeth Jones does her best for her family. But is it enough?"
Tags: welfare; welfare reform
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To speed up its child welfare system, Denver will need to stop kidding around.
This piece is really a collection of small stories of Colorado parents' experiences with foster care in the state. the stories include a foster parents who had new legislation made to correct a problem in the agency, parents who are incapable of reform, and children who are caught in the middle.
Tags: Foster care; children; abuse
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The Man With Too Many Children
Peter Digre is responsible for 73,000 troubled children, as head of Los Angeles County's Department of Children and Family Services. There are plenty of good ideas for improving child welfare in America, but the size of the the problem overwhelms even the most dedicated reformer.
Tags: child welfare; DCFS; foster care
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Reforming Welfare Reform
American Prospect takes a look at the Welfare Reform, and the need to make changes: "we judged it too punitive and too far from the spirit of progressive reform, which would have focused less on reducing caseloads and more on both promoting employment and improving the well-being of low-income families with children.
Tags: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families; low-income; children; subsidies; economy; need; opportunities; labor market
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Untested Safety Net
By all accounts, the 1996 welfare reforms have worked amazingly well in these boom times. But they are untried in a recession. The article answers the question of whether this reformed safety net is ready for a downturn.
Tags: welfare reform; Dunbar Family Investment Center; Congress; unemployment insurance; child care; cash assistance; food stamps