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 "childcare" ...
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Missing Oversight
These six stories cover financial problems surrounding one of of Glendale's most notable nonprofit organizations, New Horizons. The series started as an article on the long-delayed construction of a planned $4-million childcare center, but quickly grew into a much larger investigation of financial misrepresentations made by the nonprofit's founder and lax city oversight of federal funding. In addition to finding significant budget problems at the nonprofit, the stories revealed that city officials had repeatedly doled out limited federal funds at a time the nonprofit's own records showed they had little funding for the project.
Tags: nonprofit; NGO; federal funding; budget; New Horizons; Glendale; corruption; misrepresentation; finance; construction; childcare center
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Cashing in on Kids
Child-care programs were setup to encourage low income parents to get and keep their jobs. This program covered the cost of child care, but as it turns out "millions of taxpayer dollars" were misused by corrupt parents and daycare providers. Further, this series revealed a number of drug dealers can be tied to the daycare providers. Also, it revealed how regulators overlooked the problem, lawmakers and their weak laws, and workers trying to bring this to attention and their bosses shutting them down.
Tags: child care; corruption; scamming; cost; criminals; daycare; children; fraud
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A Question of Care
"The reporters found that in the most recent 18 months, at least five children died in child-care facilities and 13 children received injuries serious enough to prompt the closing of the facility. It also discovered homes cited for housing too many children, having unqualified providers and failed to meet other minimum standards of care."
Tags: open records; FOIA; Department of Human Services; children; nursery school; day care
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Dirty Little Secrets
The Toronto Star filed "freedom of information request to municipal and provincial government offices requesting data on inspections, serious occurrences, infection control, food safety, licensing...and enforcement actions by the ministry...and every public complaint against a daycare" over the past three years. "Together, the records painted a portrait of licensed childcare never before seen."
Tags: childcare; Canada; legal cases; daycare; licensing; FOIA
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Children's Crusade: Who is watching Yale faculty's children?
This article explores Yale University's decision to hire a consulting firm to assess the university's childcare program. Krieger found that the CEO of the consulting agency also has an administrative role at the university. The author explores the various sides of this conflict of interest, and also traces the history of Yale's childcare program.
Tags: childcare; local government; conflict of interest; Bright Horizons
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Our Dead Children: Why Nebraska Fails as a Parent
This investigation detailed the failings of Nebraska's child protection system. The reporters focus on one specific case, JayCiona Fleming, to illustrate the lack of time, resources and care that plague the system. Officials are overworked and case workers often are not as strict as they could be; as a result, many children remain in homes with unqualified or addicted parents.
Tags: abuse; foster care; childcare; DCFS
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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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Money To Burn: The Ohio Teachers' Pension Fund
Tipped off by a school superintendent and a former teacher, the Copley delves into the glaring incongruencies that highlight the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio. The investigation reveals that though the system was losing $12.3 billion from its investment portfolio over a three-year period, its board and administrators spent $15 million on staff bonuses, artwork, parties, furniture storage, childcare, executive perks and travel. From the questionnaire, "they also boosted the system's annual budget by nearly $ 5 billion. Meanwhile, the health care costs of retirees skyrocketed and pension benefits declined".
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Case Closed: Death in Day Care
Three-part series on day care by the News & Observer found that "in the past four years, 33 North Carolina children have died in day-care facilities, an average of one death every six weeks. A review of those deaths found that, in some cases, state child-care regulators failed to act despite red flags indicating a day care was unsafe." For this series, the News & Observer looked into deaths that occurred in day care facilities, and discovered some which should have been prevented. The series also deals with unlicensed day care facilities operating across the state, "with little fear of being caught or punished." Additionally, the series looks at the occurences of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), the most common cause of death in day care, and what North Carolina does (or does not) do to reduce the risk of SIDS. For example, despite experts' assertions that "placing babies on their backs can lower the risk," North Carolina day care facilities do not require such steps to be taken.
Tags: day care; child care; health; SIDS; sudden infant death syndrome; negligence; children; infant; baby
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34,000 kids trying to catch a break
A caseworker in New York's Administration for Child Services (ACS) gives a first-person account of the bureaucracy involved in caring for state wards, which includes foster children and orphans alike. He writes of overworked caseworkers, stunning courtroom dramas, and more.
Tags: foster care; children; childcare; caseworkers; juveniles