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 "day care centers" ...
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Startribune:The Day Care Threat
Children had been dying in Minnesota child care at an alarming rate and state regulators and industry leaders had overlooked the problem until our reporting laid bare a series of safety failures that led to the spike in deaths. The reporters made dozens of public record requests and analyzed hundreds of cases to uncover wide problems in the state’s in-home daycare system. They almost all the deaths occurred at in-home daycares, which have more lax regulations than centers. The series also uncovered dozens of cases of sexual abuse, gun violence and negligence that harmed children in the state’s in-home daycare system. It revealed how Minnesota has some of the weakest training and supervision rules in the country for these in-home daycares. The reporters also discovered that critical safety records that would help parents identify problem providers were not accessible to the public. The response to the series was swift and sustained. State regulators implemented changes to improve infant safe sleep practices and they are planning legislation this session to shore up some of the safety problems. The series also highlighted how the lack of information about child care deaths is a national problem.
Tags: Child care; safety; daycare system; sexual abuse; gun violence; negligence
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Returning Home to Battle
While the Obama administration declared care for returning U.S. military personnel to be a top priority, reporter Aaron Glantz found something entirely different when he drilled down in the San Francisco Bay Area – home to more than a quarter-million veterans. In a series of stories for The Bay Citizen, which is part of the Center for Investigative Reporting, Glantz exposed an alarming failure inside the Department of Veterans Affairs, where mistakes and massive delays in processing disability claims for ailing veterans were the norm, sometimes leading to tragic consequences. Glantz was the first to detail this trend, finding that tens of thousands of Northern California veterans had been waiting an average of 313 days for a decision from the Oakland office on compensation claims for conditions as serious as traumatic brain injury. The Oakland regional office ranks fifth in the nation for number of veterans served – nearly 1 million veterans from the Oregon border to Bakersfield. The story was so shocking it prompted 16 members of Congress to demand immediate help for veterans filing through Oakland. More action quickly followed. Glantz had found through his reporting that the problem was not limited to the Bay Area. Next he set out to show it. The decision to dig deeper – to go beyond the local story – helped bring greater context to such a critically important issue. Through rich storytelling and clear writing, Glantz ably captured the plight of our veterans in his series, Returning Home to Battle.
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"Trust Betrayed"
In this investigative series, Sun Sentinel reporters find numerous employees of Florida day care centers and nursing homes have startling criminal backgrounds. Many of the employees had criminal records that revealed crimes of child abuse, rape and murder. An obviously flawed Florida state law allows people to begin working as caregivers before a background check is complete.
Tags: Background checks; Florida day care; Florida nursing homes; Charlie Crist; criminal background; Department of Children & Families; George Sheldon; Children, Families and Elder Affairs committee
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"Judgment Day"
Two judges accepted $2.67 million in payoffs for sending juveniles to "two for-profit" detention centers. In this investigation, the reporter uncovers the identities of the lawyer and contractor who supplied the payments, and revealed the mob connections of one of the judges.
Tags: Pennsylvania Child Care LLC; William D'Elia; Michael Conahan; Mark Ciavarella; juvenile center; Robert Mericle; Robert J. Powell
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Daycare/Sex Offender Proximity
The state of Colorado is one of 29 states that does not have a law regarding how close a registered sex offender can live to potential victims, such as day care centers. This lack of a "proximity" law led KDVR to investigate just how many sex offenders - specifically pedophiles - were living near child care facilities. They discovered that of about 4,500 sex offenders in Colorado, 64 percent were within 1,500 feet of a day care facility, with many of that 64 percent being pedophiles. There was one situation where a sex offender was living in the same home as a day care owner, who had their license revoked as a result of the investigation.
Tags: Sex offenders; pedophilia; proximity law; Colorado; Department of Human Services; day care centers
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Sex Offenders: Steps Away
WPLG reports on lax enforcement of Florida's sex offender law. No convicted sex offender is supposed to live within 1,000 feet of a day care centers, but the investigation discovered that 536 such people were doing exactly that, including some in apartments overlooking day care centers. Law enforcement asserted it "lacked the resources and manpower to enforce the law." The state legislature is planning to take a hard look at what must be done to improve the situation. As part of the investigation, reporter Julie Summers compiled information including maps of the centers in relation to the offenders, and a list of Web sites people can use for more information.
Tags: Sex offenders; day care centers; children; living; restraining order; law enforcement; Florida; sexual predators; child molesters
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Jail Problems; Day Care; VITA; Dog Laws
In a story about the jail locks, reporters found a major issue at the jail that had been known by the sheriff for years. In the story on day care, the reporter found that though parents could learn whether their children's centers had code violations but couldn't find out if anything had been done about them. In the story about information technology bids, the reporter revealed the scope of the proposed handover of the state's contracts, what it would cost and how many employees might be affected-- all despite official secrecy. And a little-known loophole in state law may be closed as a result of the story about dog attacks.
Tags: jail; day care; code violation; information technology; dog code violations
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The Sex Offender Next Door
The authors discovered a large number of high risk sex offenders living in close proximity to day care centers. For several reasons the day care centers were unaware of their neighbors and the offenders who had actually been given authorization to live there.
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California's Dirty Secret
The authors investigated environmental laws in California and Arizona that were making it possible for companies from CA to dump hazardous waste in AZ. The investigation also found that some of the dumping areas of hazardous waste were near to schools and day care centers. The authors also reviewed the developmental impact of hazardous waste in the environment can have on children.
Tags: Hazardous waste; environmental laws; dumping; schools; California; Arizona; developmental impact
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Potpourri
Not really a series, this is an assortment of stories by reporters at the Times-Dispatch. One is on locks in the city jail that don't work; one is on a web site that tells parents about code violations at day care centers but not about what actions were taken in response; one reveals secret details about bids for state information technology contracts; and one is about efforts to make the owners of vicious dogs criminally liable for the dogs' behavior.
Tags: animal control; state government contracts; city jails; day care centers