Washington Post uses FOIA for special report on AIDS in D.C.

dcogcadmin | October 19, 2009

To produce its special report, "Wasting Away: The Squandering of D.C.’s AIDS Dollars," the Washington Post "analyzed the spending, services, and finances of every specialized AIDS organization funded by D.C.’s HIV/AIDS Administration from 2004-2008, an estimated 90 groups, building a database from tax returns, audits, lawsuits, real estate records, D.C. Council records, and corporate and police reports. The Post also obtained grant agreements, invoices and government correspondence for about 60 of these groups…"  Some of the records were obtained through the use of the D.C.

To produce its special report, "Wasting Away: The Squandering of D.C.’s AIDS Dollars," the Washington Post "analyzed the spending, services, and finances of every specialized AIDS organization funded by D.C.’s HIV/AIDS Administration from 2004-2008, an estimated 90 groups, building a database from tax returns, audits, lawsuits, real estate records, D.C. Council records, and corporate and police reports. The Post also obtained grant agreements, invoices and government correspondence for about 60 of these groups…"  Some of the records were obtained through the use of the D.C. Freedom of Information Act.  The special report documents the mishandling of public funds intended to provide services or support for HIV/AIDs patients by non-profits, many of which have poor track records yet continue to receive city money.