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 Child Protective Services" ...
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Broken Shield
Decades ago, California created a special police force to patrol exclusively at its five state developmental centers – taxpayer-funded institutions where patients with severe autism and cerebral palsy have been beaten, tortured and raped by staff members. But California Watch found that this state force, the Office of Protective Services, does an abysmal job bringing perpetrators to justice. Reporter Ryan Gabrielson, a Pulitzer Prize winner, exposed the depths of the abuse inside these developmental centers while showing how sworn officers and detectives wait too long to start investigations, fail to collect evidence and ignore key witnesses – leading to an alarming inability to solve crimes inflicted upon some of society’s most vulnerable citizens. Dozens of women were sexually assaulted inside state centers, but police investigators didn’t order “rape kits” to collect evidence, a standard law enforcement tool. Police waited so long to investigate one sexual assault that the staff janitor accused of rape fled the country, leaving behind a pregnant patient incapable of caring for a child. The police force’s inaction also allowed abusive caregivers to continue molesting patients – even after the department had evidence that could have stopped future assaults. Many of the victims chronicled by California Watch are so disabled they cannot utter a word. Gabrielson gave them a resounding voice. Our Broken Shield series prompted far-reaching change, including a criminal investigation, staff retraining and new laws – all intended to bring greater safeguards and accountability.
Tags: California; police; autism; cerebral palsy; abuse; children
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The System Failed Us
A young boy's abuse-related death could have been prevented, according to this investigation. The author finds that more than 25 percent of doctors who believe a child's injuries are abuse-related choose not to report them to child protective services.
Tags: child protective services; Department of Child Protective Services; child abuse; child neglect; pediatrician
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Failing the Children: Deadly Mistakes
"In May 2007, authorities found 7-year old Chandler Grafner starved to death in a closet. He showed signs of long-term abuse. His guardians, Jon Phillips and Sarah Berry, were convicted of murder. In covering the story, KMGH-TV investigative reporter John Ferrugia attempted to determine the extent of the the Denver Department of Human Services' involvement with the family... Ferrugia and the KMGH investigative team consistently obtained internal documents to expose a system fraught with incompetence, lack of oversight, poor management and ineffective training... In short, a system that left children at risk."
Tags: Department of Human Services; child welfare; child protective services; child abuse; neglect
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Day-care dangers; DCFS: Guilty until proven innocent; DCFS Declassified
The series focused on how the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services protects children and found problems, including a state law with wording so flawed it couldn't work, major errors in investigating alleged child abuse that ended up accusing innocent parents and repeated errors in the investigation of a murdered boy.
Tags: children; DCFS; Kalab Lay; custody; child abuse; sex offender
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The Smallest Victims
KTVU journalists set out to find out if the deaths of two California children could have been prevented by the child welfare workers assigned to protect them. The investigation uncovered that there is no accountability or transparency in the child welfare system and called for changes. KTVU had to sue to obtain information about the State Department of Social Services' "contact with children who have died or been seriously injured while under its supervision"; several months after the report aired, pressure from child advocates and the California legislature pressured the department to make that information available to the public.
Tags: child welfare; beating; death; welfare system; Alameda County Department of Social Services; California; FOIA; foster children
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The Accused; To-Do-List
Westword reports on a badly managed database containing more than 100,000 names of people who have supposedly committed child neglect or abuse. The Central Registry of Child Protection, created by the Colorado legislation in 1969, has been plagued with mistakes from its early days, the first story reveals. The follow-up features the findings of a 1990 state audit of the Central Registry, which "showed that numerous people on the list shouldn't have been on it," while "many people convicted such as convicted child abusers, were missing from the list." The reporter depicts how the wrongful listing of a man on the registry upended his and his wife's lives. The story cautions that 43 other states have similar databases on suspected child abusers.
Tags: children; state government; sex offenders; Denver Department of Human Services; child care; day-care; adoptive parent; foster parents; group homes
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A Child's Life and Death
Register reporters found a case of continual physical and sexual abuse that ultimately killed a two year old girl. Medical reports revealed injuries, child-care workers repeatedly called state child-abuse investigators and the mother was investigated seven times for child abuse, but the Iowa Department of Human Services dropped all the allegations. It was only after the young girl died did investigators and the state realize that everything was confirmable. "This report lead to the governor and the Iowa Department of Human Services director announcing a new policy for child-abuse investigators: when in doubt, take them out." Lawmakers and state officials are promising to implement more changes to protect children throughout 2001.
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Fostering Sexual Abuse
The Phoenix New Times' investigation of Arizona's foster care system revealed that the state "often fails to monitor the welfare of children it has placed in foster homes and has frequently put kids in dangerous situations, including placing them in homes with a history of abuse."
Tags: Arizona Department of Economic Security DES Child Protective Services CPS
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"Our hidden little secret": Bad employees escape blame at child protection agency
Florida's Department of Children and Families, the state's massive social services agency, is failing to weed out bad employees. DCF workers fighting serious charges, including sexual abuse and drug use, are dodging punishment by cutting deals and quitting.
Tags: None
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'Tell Mama Why You Cry'
The Dallas Observer looks at the heartbreaking separation of a Muslim couple from their two children and how Child Protective Services placed the terrified Krasniqi children in series of group homes and foster families, none of whom ever gave the slightest consideration to the children's ethnic and religious heritage. Sam Krasniqi was aquitted of sexual abuse, but the state won't let him see his children.
Tags: Adoption; Sexual abuse; Religion; Immigrants; Foster care; Albania; Yugoslavia; Department of Human Services