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 Veterans Affairs" ...
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Mental Anguish and the Military
Army studies show that 20-25 percent of soldiers returning from Iraq show symptoms of serious mental health problems, including depression, substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder. Government officials say that the military has programs to treat these soldiers, but National Public Radio's investigation at Colorado Springs' Fort Carson found that "these programs are not working." Soldiers who are desperate and suicidal even have trouble getting the necessary help. Furthermore, "evidence suggests that officers at Ft. Carson punish soldiers who need help, and even kick them out of the Army." In the wake of the report, three senators - Barbara Boxer, Christopher Bond and Barack Obama - wrote a letter to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs seeking clarification of the reports.
Tags: Post-traumatic stress disorder; Iraq War; Fort carson; Department of Veterans' Affairs
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Connecticut Veterans' Home
The State Veterans' Home in Connecticut is allowing in people with criminal backgrounds, posing a possible danger to residents and employees in the home. WFSB investigates, and finds the Commissioner of the state Department of Veterans' Affairs unwilling to admit there is an issue. The Commissioner said the number of people with criminal backgrounds in the home was in single digits, while WFSB-TV found it was three times that many. There are 500 residents on the house, and often only two unarmed guards patrolling the premises. In addition, the Commissioner only consented to a timed, five-minute interview regarding the issue.
Tags: Security; criminal records; Connecticut Veterans' Home; halfway house
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Discharged and Dishonored
Adams and Young from the Knight Ridder Washington Bureau investigated the Department of Veterans Affairs to see how it was handling veterans' disability compensation programs. They found inconsistencies among states, over half a million eligible veterans who were not receiving benefits, a 23 percent in processing claims, and more than 13,700 veterans who died in the past decade while waiting for an appeal on their claims to be resolved, among other problems.
Tags: VA; Post-traumatic stress disorder; PTSD; Gulf War syndrome; disability claims; VFW; Foreign Legion; veterans benefits; precision journalism
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Federal Tax Cheats
This investigation found tens of thousands of employees of the federal government did not pay their taxes. This accounts for $2 billion in unpaid taxes. Employees worked for the house of representatives, the senate, the department of veterans affairs, the department of homeland security and even in the white house. 32 thousand employees of the U.S. Postal Service alone owed more than $200 million.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; FOIA; taxes; federal employee; house of representatives; senate; department of veterans affairs; department of homeland security; white house; tax evasion; postal service
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Duty, Honor, Betrayal: How the U.S. turned its back on poisoned WWII vets
Zeman did months and months of research to tell the stories of U.S. army veterans who were exposed to poison gases as part of government experiments before and during World War II. In the early nineties, these stories came to light and the VA promised to help the affected veterans file claims and fight for compensation, but the agency never came through. This report found that the VA never fulfilled its pledge, and that many sick and dying veterans, affected by chemical experiments decades before, were left to handle their illnesses completely on their own.
Tags: military; mustard gas; Nuremburg; Anthony Principi; Pentagon; lewisite; gas chambers; Edgewood Arsenal; Department of Defense; Veterans Affairs
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"A Question of Trust
For years, federal officials knew that Karen Fotiou, a woman pretending to be a lawyer, was targeting disabled veterans. She was illegally charging them for filing claims with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Records show she illegally collected nearly $200,000 from veterans who had little or no income and who suffered from emotional and physical problems. Even though federal officials had evidence she was breaking the law, they never charged her, never warned veterans about her and even helped her continue operating. She was able to operate freely because filing claims with the VA is slow, and an often unfair process; and veterans, under the law cannot pay a lawyer to help them. When mistakes happen in the VA system, no-one is held accountable.
Tags: disabled veterans; Department of Veterans Affairs; Veterans Affairs Medical Center-Northport; VA Hospital; U.S. Inspector Genera report; state corporate records; court appeals; New York Bar Association; VA investigators; Disabled American Veterans; National Organization of Veterans Advocates; post-traumatic stress; filing claims
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Welcome Back Warrior
The tragic suicide of mentally ill Marine Corps veteran Brian Callan was the catalyst for an analysis of how the Department of Veterans Affairs fails to assist soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and a variation called peacekeeper's traumatic stress disorder. The VA has cut special services for those with PTSD, like Callan who served in Lebanon, Desert Storm and Somalia, nearly to extinction,
Tags: Marine Corps; peacekeeper's traumatic stress disorder; post-traumatic stress disorder; PTSD; suicide; Department of Veteran Affairs; VA; Brian Callan
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Battling for Benefits
"Women have formally served in the United States armed forces for nearly a century, beginning with the creation of the Army Nurse Corps in 1901. But women are only now winning a long battle for veteran's health care services that has at times seemed as formidable as the conflicts they faced in two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf." Due to recent legislation over the last ten years, health care for female veterans has greatly improved. Female veterans now may receive monthly compensation payments for loss of a breast for reasons related to military service and benefits for children born with birth defects. However, "the VA recognizes that more improvements are needed . . . including providing greater privacy in hospital facilities and better inpatient psychiatric care for women." In addition, "veterans groups point to other ways in the VA could more effectively help women: developing better programs for those women veterans who are homeless; paying more attention to the specific health care needs of women; and giving the special women veterans' coordinators more time to do their job." Reporter Karen Lee Scrivo reports more on these issues.
Tags: women; military; Veterans Affairs Department; Center for Women Veterans; Women Veterans Health Programs Act; children; Special Monthly Compensation K Award; health care
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Never Let Go
Phil Burton, a 22-year veteran investigator with D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department, was forced from his job in October 1997. But for more than three years since then, he has continued to pursue convictions for his last major corruption case: For more than a decade, city plumbers from the Water and Sewer Authority were "taking bribes in exchange for performing private side jobs during their regular work hours." Over that time, "crews had been bilking the city out of an estimated $1 million a year in lost revenue, stolen equipment, torn-up streets, and overtime abuses." But after an extensive investigation, Burton had no luck convincing the MPD or the U.S. Attorney's Office to prosecute the alleged racketeers. "By the end of 1999, only 11 out of some 30 city workers he believed were guilty had been prosecuted. Although it was the biggest investigation in the IAD's recent history, Burton insists that it's only partially complete." Today, Burton keeps 30 boxes worth of paperwork at his home. He keeps them around in the hopes that somebody will prosecute the remaining suspects before the statute of limitations expires, in one year.
Tags: Phil Burton; Metropolitan Police Department; internal affairs; WASA; U. S. Attorney's Office; Water and Sewer Authority
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Fighting for a Smile
WCCO-TV reports profiles of three victims of inefficiency at Minneapolis' VA Medical Center, which had been keeping dozens of patients waiting in line for dentures, some for more than a year.