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 Protective Services" ...
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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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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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What happens when adults kill kids?
In the past five years, half of the people convicted of killing a child in Arizona were sentenced to fewer than 10 years in prison -- about as much prison time as one would get for armed robbery. The Arizona Republic profiles dozens of the young victims and the abuse surrounding their deaths.
Tags: murder; children; sentencing; Child Protective Services; CPS
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No title (id: 13052)
New Times tells the story of Benita Venegas, a girl robbed of her hearing at birth, robbed of a homelife by an indifferent mother and of her virginity at age 12, becoming a mother at age 14. Her mother, Amelia Fernandez, allowed two adult brothers to use her as a sex toy for a three-year period. Now, her foster parents can't fathom why Child Protective Services Phoenix police detectives and Maricopa County prosecutors ignored the girl's plight for so long--even after receiving more than two dozen complaints from school officials about sexual and physical abuse. (Oct. 13 - 19, 1994)
Tags: Rubin Reckless Abandonment Rape Sex crimes Teen pregnancy Narrative 5 pgs.
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No title (id: 12500)
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette series detailing the plight of Arkansas' poor, elderly citizens--23 percent of the state's population. The series revealed horrifying abuse and neglect, the inconsistencies of state laws protecting the elderly, and the lack of communication between the various volunteer and government agencies providing services to them.
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Twice Abused
Lexington (Kent.) Herald-Leader runs series about sexual abuse of children, looking at the problems faced by prosecutors attempting to address the problem, how social services fail to protect children, abusers get light sentences; conducts statewide poll and finds 20 percent of adults in Kentucky were abused sexually as children.
Tags: incest sexual predators criminal justice system probation repeat offenders