CPS on the hot seat
House Government Committee Chairman Kirk Adams (center) listens to testimony about the deaths of two children under the watch of Child Protective Services. The poster board refers to a third child whose death the committee did not have time to investigate.

Lawmakers say the highly publicized committee hearing looking into Child Protective Services should lead to proposals next year aimed at making it easier for the agency to do its job. And after just the first such hearing, ideas for legislation are already starting to coalesce.
House Government Committee Chairman Kirk Adams, R-19, said the Sept. 25 hearing about the “complex, difficult and somber” issues surrounding the recent deaths of two Tucson children was productive.
“We accomplished our two main goals: provide some accountability and transparency to the process and identify specific legislative solutions,” he said.
Likewise, Rep. Jonathan Paton, the committee’s vice chair, said the hearing provided some good insight into how CPS acted in the deaths of Tyler and Ariana Payne.
“The questions were tough, but I think the tone was fair and measured,” Paton, R-30, said. “We had some really good debate in there about what happened in the case and how it translated into policy issues at CPS.”
Adams says the hearing made it abundantly clear that CPS needs to be more open with records about its cases, comply with court custody orders and ensure cases are not closed too early. He also said the agency and law enforcement need to have better communication and CPS caseworkers have to be able to electronically access criminal records to perform background checks.
Paton says he intends to sponsor legislation next year to require CPS to release records to the public in cases of death and give caseworkers the ability to file missing persons reports and request that law enforcement perform welfare checks on children.
The Payne children, 5- and 4-years old, were allegedly killed by their father who was caring for them after CPS placed them in his care, despite a court order giving the mother sole custody. Caseworkers gave the children to the father, Christopher Payne, because of unproven allegations the mother, Jamie Hallam, was using methamphetamine.
Payne is charged with killing the children, and prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty.
CPS officials acknowledged their investigator never checked court records to verify the court order.
The decision to disregard the order was a major focus of the hearing. CPS officials said there were no indications the children were in danger as Payne had never been the subject of any child abuse allegations.
Moreover, CPS officials said, it was Hallam who violated the court order by placing the kids with Payne in January 2006.
Lillian Downing, the agency’s Pima County head, said CPS erred by closing the case file on the children early.
One of the reasons for the case being closed prematurely, Downing said, was a shortage of caseworkers who were — and are still — swamped with complaints to investigate and cases to follow up on.
The staffing shortages were expected to be solved in 2003, when the Legislature, in a special session, provided millions of dollars of additional funding to CPS. Adams says the Legislature’s job now is to examine the priority of spending within the agency and ensure it is being used properly.
“I think we absolutely have to look at if we have appropriate levels of resources for the front-line caseworker,” he said.
Referencing remarks in the past by fiscally conservative lawmakers that money won’t solve problems within the agency, Adams disagreed, though he acknowledges more funding isn’t a panacea.
“I don’t think you can dismiss [funding] as irrelevant — it is relevant,” he said. “We gave them a bunch of money in 2003 and we have dead children in 2007, so that obviously doesn’t solve everything.”
Paton says the money should, first and foremost, be used to get the caseworkers out from behind their desks in the office.
“I want to know that people are spending more time in families’ homes than they are on the computer [filling out paperwork],” he said.
Rep. Pete Hershberger, R-26, who chairs the Human Services Committee that typically deals with CPS legislation, said he was encouraged by the hearing and the effect it may have on future legislation.
“We can look at the system now and maybe make some changes,” he said. “I think that this hearing was a good first step.”
However, he is concerned that an expected tightening of the state’s spending next year because of an impending budget deficit will result in less money, or even cuts, to CPS and treatment programs the agency uses.
“I just got out of a budget meeting,” Hershberger said, “and the budget ain’t looking good.”
Rep. Steve Farley, D-28, says he hopes Republican legislative leaders are willing to work with CPS on legislation, as the agency’s openness in the hearing indicated to him there was an opportunity for a partnership. The best ultimate outcome, he said, would be for CPS to be able to protect children by getting parents the counseling or treatment they need.
“If we can make the families safe, that’s the best of both worlds,” Farley said.