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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.
AZ budget doesn’t provide enough money for child safety, advocates say
Children’s welfare advocates blasted the budget proposal moving through the Arizona Legislature, saying it commits the same errors lawmakers have routinely made in the past.
Legislators drop plans to give child welfare investigators police powers
Lawmakers have tabled language granting investigators with the Office of Child Welfare Investigations police powers in a limited scope.
Quality assurance staff reportedly prevented CPS cases from being investigated
Some Child Protective Services workers believed to have been involved in preventing thousands of abuse reports from being investigated also took part in a new quality assurance review of the cases in recent weeks.
Proposals for fixing CPS emerge
Authorities search for new ideas in the face of an ongoing crisis
Some lawmakers say Child Protective Services needs more money. Others say it should become its own agency, separate from the Department of Economic Security. Another cautions against “reactionary legislation” that won’t really solve anything.
History repeats itself with caseload woes at CPS
Ten years ago this week, Arizona lawmakers were on the verge of approving a law to strengthen Child Protective Services and ensure the agency investigates all cases of neglect and abuse.
Governor gives vote of confidence to DES director
Gov. Jan Brewer voiced her confidence in DES Director Clarence Carter today as she announced a special team to oversee the investigation of thousands of child abuse cases CPS disregarded under his watch.
Arizona abuse cases to be reviewed by next week
An Arizona government official says his department will review more than 6,000 unexamined reports of child abuse and neglect by Dec. 2.
‘Heartbreaking, unconscionable’
CPS workers close out thousands of cases before they are investigated
Thousands of uninvestigated CPS cases traced to brief cost-saving measure in 2009
A brief Child Protective Services cost-saving measure that was supposed to end after five days in December 2009 has led to the failure to investigate thousands of cases of alleged child abuse, an official testified today.
Compromise could clear the way for CPS reforms
A compromise between House and Senate lawmakers could allow time-sensitive reforms to Child Protective Services to clear the Legislature this session, but other CPS-related measures may still face the governor’s veto stamp.
