1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
"Disquieting Time" and sidebar, "Allowed to leave, two men escaped," both by Justin George
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
12/19/2010
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
January 5, 2011 To the judges: I had written a daily story in December 2008 about the investigation into abuses at a children_s home when an email arrived in my inbox. "I'm concerned about being identified as the source if this becomes news," the anonymous tipster wrote. "I know you don't know me but I do watch CSI and I know it is not hard to trace emails. I am concerned about what is going on at a state agency. It is similar to your article … but it is being kept hush-hush. Will you be willing and able to protect your source??" So began the reporting of a story that stunned readers. A group home in an isolated area where developmentally disabled men — including sex offenders — were urged to have sex with each other. That policy resulted in reports of rape; questions of consent; suppression and retaliation of whistle blowers; a state investigation swept under the rug; and complex questions about guarding the rights and safety of the disabled. I persuaded my initial source, a state agency nurse fired after she reported abuses, to go on the record after months of face-to-face, email and telephone conversations. I met a disabled man_s elderly mother who had grown weary fighting the state over conditions and treatment and persuaded her, and her son, to speak publicly. I found two caseworkers who felt they had been pressured by the state over their advocacy to come forward. One had been fired, too. None of it was easy. I hunted down several caseworkers and state employees who wouldn_t speak on the record because they were scared of losing their jobs. Many current and former residents at the group home had no families and were shielded from interviews by caretakers. One man I found kept his drapes shut in his own apartment, scared the group home would somehow discover him and rescind his rightful independence. Another disclosed during an interview that he had been raped at the Human Development Center — a revelation made just before his current group home herded him back into his house and urged him to stop talking. For two years, I chipped away at "Disquieting Time," sifting through hundreds of documents including law enforcement records that showed men cutting themselves, health reports that detailed soiled mattresses and behavior plans that uncovered rape and questionable therapy practices. I spent days with group home officials, attending their meetings and listening as they defended their controversial beliefs. The victims included men whose claims of sexual abuse went ignored, a mother whose request to relocate her son was stalled, a nurse and caseworker who were fired. These people had suffered in silence, unable to get their stories out until the Times printed them. Our stories detailed their trauma and gave insight to a difficult situation with no easy answers. More than one hundred readers called or wrote the Times expressing their outrage at the treatment of the men, and a state senator continues to push the state to relocate the disabled man at the center of "Disquieting Time." Grateful group home employees, state workers and disabled guardians have felt emboldened to report their own claims of abuse. The outcome of the stories, which ran just last month, will be ongoing and documented, letting the public know that the Times pays attention to the taxpayer-funded services and conditions afforded to our disabled. I am proud to submit "Disquieting Time" for your consideration.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
The stories are based on two years of reporting, hundreds of pages of internal Human Development Center documents, caseworker notes, Agency for Persons with Disabilities inspection reports, Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office records, Florida Department of Law Enforcement records, court records and Department of Children and Families investigatory reports. About half of the documents came directly from sources while the rest came from public records requests, which took weeks and several hundred dollars. Those documents were crucial and worth the wait as they showed sheriff's reports of desperate men cutting themselves and threatening suicide to get out of the group home. I also used Facebook many times to locate people and to communicate with them including a caseworker crucial to our stories.
5. Explain types of human sources used.
More than 40 people were interviewed. Many would not speak on the record but their information and direction was useful to gain context and connect to other sources. I spoke to residents, caseworkers, local advocates, national experts, law enforcement officers, social workers, medical doctors, county officials and countless others.
6. Results (if any).
The medical director of the Human Development Center is under investigation by the Florida Department of Health. A state senator is considering sanctions against the state agency and group home cited in the story. Other group home employees have come forward to substantiate the problems and provide even more examples of neglect, abuse or questionable therapy practices that will be used in follow-up stories.
7. Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
No, we have not run a correction or clarification for the stories. The only challenge we received came from the state Agency for Persons with Disabilities, which claimed that our investigation didn't precipitate its creation of a task force to draft sexual activity policies in group homes. My editor and I reviewed the minor challenge but disputed it based on a timeline we had put together. The state later acknowledged that it did start the task force after we began asking state officials questions about these matters.
8. Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Have patience. Breakthroughs, which involved finally finding men who have no families or steady addresses, came sporadically. The state and group homes provided plenty of roadblocks, saying it couldn't provide any information because of confidentiality clauses. We couldn't approach residents on our own but instead had to trust that group homes would ask them if they wanted to be interviewed. That often failed. Caseworkers were also scared of losing their jobs. But if you talk to enough of them, you'll finally find people willing to come forward.