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 "guardian" ...
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"Greed v. Guardianship"
This investigation reveals serious flaws in the Maricopa County Probate Court. Families have complained of being "violated" by their court appointed guardian, which was most often the Sun Valley Group. Families accused SVG of taking control of their finances, selling anything of value and keeping the money. Some were even kept from visiting sick loved ones who had been placed in care facilities.
Tags: Sun Valley Group; probate court; Maricopa County; Arizona Supreme Court; public records; court documents; guardianship
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The Price of Living
The Post and Courier discovered one South Caroline probate court had been financially exploiting the very people it was designed to protect.
Tags: elderly; probate court; estate; exploitation; guardian
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Fatal Care
“At least 22 children died from 2004 to 2008 despite clear warning signs from the Bureau of Child Welfare they were at risk”. A number of reasons were to blame for the deaths of these innocent children. The reasons include: workers making these “fatal mistakes” were reassigned instead of being fired, the parents mistreating their children were never punished, and secrecy in the Bureau persisted.
Tags: Milwaukee; county; kids; preventable; social service; social workers; turmoil; caseworkers; guardians
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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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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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Guardians for Profit
The reporters investigated California's broken system for protecting incapacitated adults. Roughly 500 professional conservators operate in California, entrusted to take care of at least 4,600 of the state's most vulnerable adults. They hold sweeping power, controlling their wards' property and money as well as the smallest details of their lives. A system meant to protect the elderly often fails them.
Tags: elderly; elder care; conservators; power of attorney; California Public Records Act; disabled
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Killing Our Children
This heart-wrenching series of articles exposes how many perpetrators in child abuse that leads to death escape harsh punishment because of lack of evidence and unbelief on the part of juries that anyone could hurt a child. Abusers are often parents or guardians and are punished with probation or a few years in prison.
Tags: abuse; neglect; homicide; parent; caretaker; baby; infant; toddler; child; kid; shaken baby syndrome; criminal justice system; child welfare system; battered child syndrome; death; murder
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The Nonprofit Gold Rush
As part of the San Francisco Bay Guardian's annual Freedom of Information issue, this investigation looks into the world of nonprofits and their place in public services and social programs. Every year, nonprofit organizations bid for contracts and provide services which account for 10 percent of San Francisco's spending, and 20 percent of its General Fund. The problem lies in tracking how the money is spent and where it goes. In some cases, nonprofit organizations have diverted public money to finance political campaigns.
Tags: FOI; nonprofit contracts; public services; outsourcing; privatization; social programs
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Get Poor Quick!
The San Francisco Bay-Guardian investigated two companies and found that both were scamming customers out of hundreds of millions of dollars per month by telling them to trade foreign currency online. The salesman behind the scheme, Steven Lloyd, or Steven Lloyd Daughenbaugh, has been sued by the U.S. government for "allegedly using deceptive sales techniques to defraud 60,000 customers out of $15.2 million."
Tags: Forex Capital Markets; 4X Made Easy; foreign currency exchange
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New York Slush Funds
The three men who run New York's state government have stuck state taxpayers with more than $1 billion in debt over the last seven years for a series of secretive slush funds under their tight control. State leaders use the money to reward political friends and punish enemies. They use the money to keep rank-and-file legislators obedient. The stories show many examples of millions spent on failed or dubious projects.
Tags: taxpayers; Gov. George Pataki; Sheldon Silver; Joseph Bruno; New York City Catholic art museum; debt; Empire State Development Corp.; State of New York; New York taxpayers; Carnegie Hall; National Baseball Hall of Fame; Carrier Dome; Roswell Park Cancer Institute; Centers for Excellence; Empire Opportunity Fund; Junior Museum; capital-improvement programs; Community Enhancement Facilities Assistance Program; Strategic Investment Program; Senate Majority leader; borrowing money; legislators; public money; Kraft Foods; Guardian Industries; Canadian American Transportation Systems; Division of Human Rights; National Museum of Catholic Art and History; New York Susquehanna and Western Railroad; Dormitory Authority; IRS; Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum; Bard College; YMCA; New York's Public Officers Law; Central New York Regional Market; campaign donations; borrowed-money grants