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Reduction in Adult Protective Services backlog means longer HCBS waitlists
And while we cite the good that has resulted in the drop in APS caseload, Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) on the other hand continues to experience an ever-increasing caseload of vulnerable older adults who desperately need help. These individuals are being waitlisted. Some have to wait nearly a year to receive any assistance depending on the type of service they need.
Abuse of Arizona’s elderly increases as aging population grows
Vulnerable and elderly adults have been the victims of abuse, neglect and fraud in nearly 14,000 cases in Arizona, with the number of cases reported in 2015 increasing 19 percent over the year before, according to a Cronkite News analysis.
Arizona DES to open multi-service center in Flagstaff soon
The Arizona Department of Economic Security is opening a new multi-service center in Flagstaff on Jan. 4.
Cap Times Q&A: Clarence Carter: Adding a trampoline to the safety net
Clarence Carter came to Arizona in 2011 to put his ideas for reforming the way government runs human services into action, but he found a backlog of child welfare cases that became synonymous with his time as the head of the Department of Economic Security.
Cleaning house: DES director fires 72 for being ‘bullies,’ but did he go too far?
Department of Economic Security Director Tim Jeffries has canned 168 employees since he was appointed department head in February, a pace of more than four firings a week. A spokeswoman for the agency could not say how many of those former employees were considered bullies and liars as well.
DES hires former legislator to state agency position
Republican Gov. Doug Ducey has appointed a former Democratic leader in the Arizona Legislature to a top position in the Department of Economic Security.
Greg McKay confirmed as new Child Safety director
The state Senate confirmed Greg McKay as the new director of the Department of Child Safety despite objections from some legislators who say they lacked all the necessary information to vet Gov. Doug Ducey’s appointee.
Over objections, Senate gives preliminary approval to new Department of Child Safety
The Senate gave preliminary approval to Gov. Jan Brewer’s proposal to create a new child safety department over objections from some Republican lawmakers who were outraged by the level of new spending being appropriated without the accountability measures they desired.
Brewer modest but successful in last session
Gov. Jan Brewer’s agenda in her final regular legislative session lacked the blockbuster policies, drag-out fights and frayed nerves of 2013. Instead, the governor proposed a far more modest agenda in 2014. Relatively small spending increases in a few key areas, two low-profile economic development bills and legislation strengthening the state’s human trafficking laws were among the biggest po[...]
Overwhelmed child abuse specialists relinquish cases to less-skilled workers
Child welfare investigators specializing in cases of sexual and physical abuse are relinquishing thousands of cases to ordinary caseworkers, who are already overburdened, a practice that is possibly in violation of the law.
State has boosted CPS budget by more than $240 million in six years
Lawmakers anxious about the prospect of spending tens of millions of dollars or more on child safety in an upcoming special session have their doubts — for a reason.
As neglect reports rise, agency plans to push for more child-care funding
Dana Naimark, the leader of the Children’s Action Alliance, is going to push for increased funding for child-care subsidies in the upcoming special session by trying to dispel the notion that subsidies are a form of welfare.
