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Childcare agency survives with tighter controls
The Department of Child Safety was put in the spotlight again this legislative session, but the agency was granted a lifeline – tied to stipulations – despite some lawmakers’ stance that it should not be continued at all. Legislation that passed this session will put aspects of the agency under a microscope and set up policy that aims to increase housing security for foster children that age[...]
Child safety agency getting 4 more years, but…
The Department of Child Safety will likely be granted a four-year continuation, following significant concerns from lawmakers as to how it operates. However, its lifeline comes with a set of conditions.
Lawmakers consider tightening oversight of Department of Child Safety
In a debate over how long the Arizona Department of Child Safety should be allowed to continue, a state representative denounced the agency at a sunset review hearing Wednesday and two legislators voted against recommending the agency’s continuation.
GOP lawmakers want more oversight of child safety agency
A veteran state lawmaker says he wants more oversight of the Department of Child Safety, saying the agency is taking far too many children from their homes and then losing track of some of them.
Travers pushing for exception to state laws that allow clergy to hide abuse confessed
A first-term Democratic lawmaker wants to enact an exception to state laws that allow clergy to refuse to disclose what was told to them in confession or similar confidential communication.
Lawsuit against LDS church could become basis for court to consider statute protecting clergy
A lawsuit against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints could become the legal basis for the state Court of Appeals to consider -- and void -- a statute that protects members of the clergy from disclosing an adherent's confession of child molestation.
New report says DCS reluctant to take punitive enforcement action against foster, group homes
A new report says the state Department of Child Safety has a "culture of not wanting to take punitive enforcement action against its foster homes and group homes.''
The impact of DCS’ discovery gap on parents – a former department attorney’s perspective
The Attorney General and Department of Child Safety did the right thing here by flagging an issue for the public. Transparency is crucial in the days to come so that we, as advocates for families can trust that we have all the information to which we are entitled to help ensure a fair process.
State discovers flaw in DCS system used to determine children’s removal from homes
State officials have discovered that a flaw in a system used by the Department of Child Safety that has let judges make decisions on removing children from homes without having all the information that they needed.
Report: Arizona DCS shorting foster care monitors of information
The Department of Child Safety is not providing some information to local foster care review boards, leaving volunteer board members without data they need to help determine the permanent status of more than 11,000 children in out-of-home care, according to a new state report.
Arizona boy hospitalized twice before death in state care
A 9-year-old boy who died last year while in the care of Arizona's child welfare agency was hospitalized twice for a life-threatening diabetes complication in the weeks leading up to his death, according to an autopsy report released this month.
Vetoes define first 100 days of Hobbs’ term
A few weeks into her tenure as Arizona’s top public official, Gov. Katie Hobbs took heat from critics over a handful of executive orders she’d issued – efforts to tackle discriminatory hiring practices and create new task forces to address her policy priorities, like prison reform.
