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 "child protective services" ...
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Failed to Death: Protecting Colorado’s Children
In a joint investigation with the Denver Post, 9NEWS uncovered 72 of the 175 Colorado children who have died of child abuse over the past 5 years were known to the agency that is supposed to keep them safe--human services. The series revealed how those children were “Failed to Death” by each and every person they had ever known. Reporters fought for access to public documents, police reports, and court records, along with convincing key stakeholders to allow them unprecedented access to every step of the child welfare process. The reporters uncovered a system where accountability and transparency is nearly non-existent and caseworkers find it nearly impossible to assess which children will live and which will not. Since the series first aired, the Colorado Legislature has put a priority on fixing the child welfare system.
Tags: child welfare; FOIA
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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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House of Horrors
This series follows the devastating facts of the death of a 10-year-old girl and the abuse of her twin brother and how child welfare workers failed to notice the warning signs until it was too late.
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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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Children In Crisis
“Kentucky leads the nation in its rate of children who die from neglect or abuse”. Many people missed the warning signs of abuse and these include social workers, family members, health professionals, and day care workers. Another factor into the problem was budget cuts, which wear down a system meant to protect children.
Tags: kids; child welfare; authorities; maltreatment; violence; Health and Family Services; Child Protective Services; programs
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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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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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CPS Worker Safety
KVOA found that Tucson's Child Protection Services employees were being threatened by parents, guardians and family members.
Tags: child protection service; employee; safety; surveillances; security; state government; FOIA
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Potent Pills: Foster Children and Mood Altering drugs
"While Monroe Country NY has a foster care medical clinic that is considered a national model, our research showed an alarming increase in the prescription of psychotropic medications to foster children in the county."
Tags: foster care; medical; clinic; child protective services; psychotropic; modd-altering drugs