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Lawmakers admonish Department of Child Safety
Arizona lawmakers voted to rebuke the Department of Child Safety on Tuesday afternoon, a striking statement against an agency that has struggled to impress the legislators who created it over a year ago.
Don’t give up on DCS yet! What the agency needs is inspiring leadership
Dear Legislature: Don’t give up on Arizona’s children and the Department of Child Safety yet, please.
McKay defends his approach, says DCS problems created by past administrations
Officials at the Department of Child Safety know the beleaguered agency has problems, but Director Greg McKay says previous administrations are to blame.
Hundreds of millions of dollars later, child safety programs plagued by the same problems
A decade ago, a team of auditors embedded themselves in the agency charged with protecting Arizona’s children and found that some reports of child abuse or neglect weren’t properly investigated. Other cases lacked the relevant information necessary to ensure children’s safety. Ten years, hundreds of millions of dollars and a new agency later, the problems that plague the Department of Child [...]
DCS chief offers new plan to cut backlog of cases
The head of the state's child welfare agency said Thursday he will slash the backlog of inactive cases by cutting down the number investigated on the front end.
Maybe he should have sent an engraved invitation
Former DCS Director Charles Flanagan told our reporter today that the department implemented a policy under his watch that barred married same-sex couples from jointly adopting or fostering children under the state’s care after Brnovich advised the agency to do so.
Ducey orders agency to allow gays to foster, adopt children
Gov. Doug Ducey ordered the Department of Child Safety to allow married same-sex couples to jointly house foster children and adopt. Ducey ordered the policy change in response to an Arizona Capitol Times report that DCS had quietly reversed a policy that had allowed married same-sex couples to jointly adopt or provide foster care.
DCS bars gay couples from being foster, adoptive parents
The Department of Child Safety quietly reversed a policy in February that allowed married same-sex couples to jointly serve as foster parents or adopt from the more than 16,000 children under the state’s care, even though federal courts have declared Arizona’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.
Governor’s office won’t release McKay whistleblower letter
The Governor’s Office is refusing to make public a whistle-blower complaint the Department of Child Safety’s general counsel made against the agency’s newly appointed director Greg McKay.
Budget clears first hurdle, now faces GOP opposition
Arizona legislators advanced a budget deal struck by Senate and House leaders and Gov. Doug Ducey, but the bills won’t move any further unless GOP leadership can change the minds of more than a dozen rank-and-file members opposed to the spending plan.
Flanagan defends his leadership at Dept of Child Safety
Fired Department of Child Safety director Charles Flanagan defended himself against allegations his process of getting through a backlog of cases was dangerous to abused children, and said he’s speaking out for the first time since his firing to defend the record of his administration and DCS employees who have been smeared by recent news reports based on allegations from Greg McKay, the newly a[...]
Child Protective Services Needs More than a Name Change
What has changed? Through the eyes of a battered child, not much.
