Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting

Arizona community colleges lower expectations for Workforce Pell as state approves first programs

More than 60 Arizona workforce programs initially appeared poised to benefit from expanded Pell grants this year. Just three are advancing for federal consideration.
azcir

Dozens of people died in Arizona sober living homes as state officials fumbled Medicaid fraud response

This story about Arizona’s response to Medicaid fraud was produced by the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting, an independent nonprofit newsroom dedicated to statewide investigative reporting, ...
azcir

Groundwater regulation weaknesses exploited by industrial-scale agriculture

ELFRIDA, Ariz. — Elaine Bailey stood at the microphone at the Sunsites Community Center in southeastern Arizona, voice shaking as she described the massive scale of new agricultural development next ...
azcir

‘Sovereign citizen’ filings flood Pima County, parallel national resurgence of controversial movement

A 63-page packet arrived at the Pima County Recorder’s Office in January, postmarked from Texas with unusual formatting identifying the sender: oddly hyphenated names, stray colons and bracketed-off ...
azcir

Medicaid fraud targeting Indigenous communities continues despite AHCCCS reforms

Nearly three years after Arizona uncovered an unprecedented $2.5 billion Medicaid fraud scandal that targeted Indigenous communities, sober living program operators are still recruiting vulnerable ...
azcir

Treatment Interrupted

Panicked calls flooded the 911 dispatch center in Amarillo, Texas around 9 a.m. on March 21, 2023. Witnesses described a man in overalls and a green T-shirt pointing a rifle at motorists southwest of ...
azcir

Without sustained funding or coordination, Arizona’s push to boost postsecondary enrollment falls short

In 2016, Arizona leaders set an ambitious goal: By 2030, 70% of high school graduates would continue their education after graduation, whether at a university, community college or trade school.
azcir

Arizona promised secure treatment for its sickest psychiatric patients. Seven years later, it still doesn’t exist.

This article is published as part of the Mental Health Parity Collaborative, a national partnership between AZCIR, The Carter Center and other newsrooms throughout the U.S. Larry Bootsma was 23 years ...
azcir

Judges ruled deporting at-risk migrants home could lead to persecution or torture. ICE is detaining them anyway.

On an August day in 2025, Celestin Dima had reason to celebrate. A judge at Arizona’s Eloy Immigration Court had just ruled that sending the African asylum-seeker back to his home country would likely ...
azcir

Arizona gave families public money for private schools. Then private schools raised tuition.

Last year, Arizona became the first state in the nation to offer universal school choice for all families. State leaders promised families roughly $7,000 a year to spend on private schools and other ...
azcir

Arizona has recovered just 5% of taxpayer dollars lost in $2.5 billion Medicaid fraud scheme

This story about Arizona’s response to Medicaid fraud was produced by the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting, an independent nonprofit newsroom dedicated to statewide investigative reporting, ...
azcir

Did undocumented students at ASU receive $10.5 million in reduced tuition last year?

The $10.5 million cited by the Department of Justice in its lawsuit against Arizona does not represent tuition savings for undocumented students in a single year or semester. It is based on a ...