Once again, the Department of Child Safety has fallen behind on child abuse and neglect investigations.

The case has its roots in the finding in late 2013 that almost one of every 12 child-abuse complaints reported to Child Protective Services that year was not investigated.

The Grand Canyon State received an overall score of 64 – a D grade – in a new State Integrity Investigation, a data-driven assessment of government accountability and transparency in all 50 states by the Center for Public Integrity and Global Integrity. Despite the low grade, Arizona ranked 22nd among all the states.

On May 28, the director of the state Department of Child Safety acknowledged that backlogs are growing again at the agency. Greg McKay told a legislative oversight committee that the number of hotline reports the agency receives each month is greater than the number of reports the staff can close.

A judge Thursday threw out a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by five former Arizona child welfare workers who were fired last year amid an agency scandal.

Children's advocacy groups on Tuesday sued the state of Arizona, claiming it violated the civil rights of nearly 17,000 children in its foster care system by exposing them to possible harm.

Clarence Carter, who was at the helm of Arizona’s child welfare system when it was revealed thousands of child abuse reports were set aside without investigation, resigned today.

Five former Arizona child welfare workers are seeking $10.5 million from the state in a wrongful termination claim filed this week after they were fired amid an agency scandal.

A special team formed by Gov. Jan Brewer to address 6,596 reports of neglect and abuse that child-welfare workers set aside without investigating has finished examining the cases.

Sen. Rick Murphy won’t seek reelection to the Arizona State Senate, and will instead run for the Peoria City Council.