As the special session entered its third week, the House began work on two competing Child Protective Services bills — H2004 and H2013 — with an eye toward possibly seeking a compromise.

The bills were reviewed Oct. 5 at a joint informational hearing by the House Human Services Committee and the House Government & Retirement Committee.

“I think we might be able to put together a compromise bill,” said Rep. Pete Hershberger, R-Dist. 26, chairman of Human Services and a member of the group of legislators that drafted H2004.

House Speaker Jake Flake, R-Dist. 5, who had urged all House members to attend the hearing, echoed that sentiment.

“I think we are well on the way to taking the best parts of both bills and making a significant reform,” said Mr. Flake.

Committee action on potential legislation is expected to begin the week of Nov. 10. Besides Human Services and Government & Retirement, H2004 and H2013 have also been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.

Mr. Flake said he expects a House vote by the following week.

H2004 is called the governor’s bill and was drafted by a bipartisan group that has been active in studying problems at CPS. House Minority Leader John Loredo, D-Dist. 13, is the prime sponsor.

Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley and lawyer Steve Twist, a former assistant attorney general, were the prime movers of H2013. Rep. John Huppenthal, R-Dist. 20, introduced it in the House.

The Differences In Bills

One major difference between the two bills is that H2013 removes CPS from the Arizona Department of Economic Security and establishes a Department of Child Protection, consisting of programs for children and families.

Mark Faull, who represented the county attorney at the hearing, said creating a separate agency would allow a better focus on protecting children.

“You can also see more clearly where the money is going,” said Mr. Faull.

Legislators asked Mr. Faull if there was an estimate on what the separate agency would cost. He said his group had not been able to put together an estimate.

David Berns, DES director, told legislators the separate agency could cost from $6 million to $8 million.

“We believe we could put that money to better use by funding services,” said Mr. Berns.

However, Mr. Berns, who took over at DES in August, did not come out against a separate agency.

“I have worked with a lot of states,” he said. “My experience is that it does not make a lot of difference. Either structure could work.”

He did say he felt keeping CPS within DES might provide better coordination of programs, and he added that CPS was reporting directly to him.

“CPS is a top priority, and it is getting a lot of attention,” said Mr. Berns.

Another area of difference covers what happens when CPS investigators find evidence of substance abuse or manufacturing of drugs in a home.

For example, H2004 requires only “consideration of parental drug/alcohol use during pregnancy if at birth the child is demonstrably adversely affected when determining neglect.”

The more stringent H2013 expands the legal definition of abuse to include a “mother’s use of alcohol/drugs during pregnancy if the child before or at birth is demonstrably adversely affected or will be affected.”

H2013 also requires a child to be taken into temporary custody if reasonable cause exists that the child is the victim or will be the victim of “abuse, neglect, serious physical/emotional injury, or living on premises where dangerous drugs are grown or manufactured or readily accessible.”

H2013 prohibits the court from awarding a dependent child to a parent if the child’s home is unfit due to “abuse, neglect, cruelty, depravity, or unlawful parental use of drugs or drugs readily accessible to the child or the child is a victim of serious physical injury or continuous physical abuse or neglect.”

Lawmaker Concerned About Unintended Consequences

Rep. Chuck Gray, R-Dist. 19, told Mr. Faull he was concerned about the unintended consequences of some of the requirement contained in H2013.

“What is reasonable physical restraint,” Mr. Gray asked. “What happens if you grab an arm or lock a child in the bedroom?”

Mr. Faull responded, “It was not our intent to prevent parents from appropriately dealing with their children. We are relying on them [CPS investigators] to use common sense. It is something we are struggling with.”

Tracy Wareing, the governor’s policy adviser for children’s services, told legislators that the requirements of H2013 could overload the system and prevent CPS from uncovering cases of severe abuse.

Also, Ms. Wareing said the expansion of the abuse definition to include time before the birth of a child might discourage pregnant women from seeking prenatal care.

Mr. Hershberger and other House Republican moderates said they would like to see any legislation allow CPS workers some latitude in conducting investigations. —