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Child welfare session gets off to a slow start before bills introduced
Arizona lawmakers opened a special session to overhaul the state’s child welfare system with a sputter, beginning the session without having finished preparing the bills needed to create a new Department of Child Safety.
Governor asks for nearly $60 million to help solve child welfare problems
Gov. Jan Brewer is asking for nearly $60 million in a special session to begin May 27 to overhaul the state’s child-welfare agency and to close out a backlog of 14,777 abuse and neglect cases.
State has boosted CPS budget by more than $240 million in six years
Lawmakers anxious about the prospect of spending tens of millions of dollars or more on child safety in an upcoming special session have their doubts — for a reason.
Child welfare work group poised to pitch ideas for new agency
A small group of lawmakers and Capitol staffers will begin making their pitch for a new child safety organization to the Legislature next week.
Staff: Arizona child welfare head knew of problems
Several employees testified that the director who supervised Arizona child welfare workers knew about uninvestigated child abuse cases back in 2011, the Arizona Republic reported Thursday. At least four workers said that Clarence Carter was informed about thousands of reports of child abuse and neglect that had gone without a state-mandated investigation.
Probe documents allegations of mistakes, deceptions at CPS
A paper trail uncovered by Department of Public Safety investigators indicates that a small group of Child Protective Services managers tried to keep hidden any public awareness of their setting aside child abuse calls.
Capitol Quotes: April 25, 2014
This week's most outstanding quips, gibes and utterances from Arizona's political scene.
Attention turns back to child welfare reforms
The Capitol community’s attention is turning to the work of a small group of lawmakers and Capitol staffers drafting legislation to create a new child safety and welfare agency,... […]
Analysis shows soaring Arizona abuse caseloads
A new analysis presented Friday to members of the Legislature's Child Protective Services oversight committee shows Arizona's child welfare system experienced a greater caseload increase than all but one state in the 10 years ending in 2012, while most states saw decreases.
Stricter oversight may be a key to new child welfare agency
A new independent state agency charged with investigating cases of child abuse and neglect may include substantial new oversight, including an annual external audit of the department and a citizen oversight board.
Details of new child protection agency revealed in draft of bill
A new department of child protection may grant police powers to staff investigating child fatalities and create a wide-ranging, easily accessible database of information relating to children’s safety and welfare.
Arizona Legislature’s child welfare panel to meet
The Arizona Legislature's Child Protective Services oversight committee is set to hear from the man Gov. Jan Brewer appointed to determine why more than 6,500 abuse and neglect reports received no response.
