A Republican lawmaker wants the state to have greater oversight of Southwest Key facilities after the shelters for migrant children were thrust into the national spotlight following reports of sexual abuse at some Arizona shelters.

Gov. Doug Ducey wants to grant pay raises to nearly half of all state employees, with an emphasis on boosting salaries for law enforcement and corrections officers.

Gov. Doug Ducey won't withdraw National Guard troops from the border even though he objects to President Trump's policy of separating children from their families.

Gov. Doug Ducey is looking for good policies and savings. But requests for money from the general fund, the state’s all-purpose kitty, are tougher to justify than those that come from other sources, like grants and fees.

The court-appointed guardian of a 6-year-old foster child is suing two state agencies, several adoption entities and two sets of foster and adoptive parents, claiming the child suffered a horrific ordeal while in foster care.

In a unanimous decision, the justices rejected arguments by the Gila River Indian Community that Arizona court must transfer such cases to tribal courts. Writing for the court Chief Justice Scott Bales said while such transfer is permissive, it is not a right.

Arizona's Department of Child Safety is putting together a team to explore whether investigators should have to get a court order before removing children from unsafe homes.

State auditors are giving a thumbs-up to the amount of administrative staffing in a high-profile social service agency.

The number of U.S. children in foster care is climbing after a sustained decline, but just five states account for nearly two-thirds of the recent increase. Reasons range from creation of a new child-abuse hotline to widespread outrage over the deaths of children who'd been repeatedly abused. Addictions among parents are another major factor.

Appellate judges will hear arguments Oct. 20 in an appeal by five former state child welfare employees who contend they were wrongly fired in 2014 amid an agency scandal.