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12 years and counting: Child safety backlog continues to grow
On May 28, the director of the state Department of Child Safety acknowledged that backlogs are growing again at the agency. Greg McKay told a legislative oversight committee that the number of hotline reports the agency receives each month is greater than the number of reports the staff can close.
Backlogs growing again at child safety agency, director says
The head of the state's child welfare agency wants to scrap laws and rules that require caseworkers to do a full investigation of every complaint of child neglect.
Former DCS head says Brnovich made decision to bar married gay couples from adopting
The former head of the state’s child safety agency said Monday it was Attorney General Mark Brnovich and not he who precipitated a February decision to stop allowing married gay couples to jointly adopt or become foster parents.
Ducey says DCS transition led to lack of info on foster policy
Gov. Doug Ducey attributed his lack of information about a change in policy at the Department of Child Safety, which in February barred married same-sex couples from jointly fostering or adopting children, to the transition between ousted Director Charles Flanagan and his successor, Greg McKay.
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.
Shared DCS case files raise questions about possible privacy law violations
The Department of Child Safety and the Governor’s Office may have broken state and federal privacy laws that shield abused children when the agency shared files to expose flaws in the former director’s system for prioritizing cases.
McKay says order to ‘stop assigning cases’ not a change in policy
Department of Child Safety Director Greg McKay said a message to his staff in which he stated that certain child abuse cases would go unassigned was meant to inspire but was not a policy change.
New child safety director describes plans to improve care
The Department of Child Safety’s new director outlined plans on March 23 to turn around Arizona’s ailing child welfare services in front of a legislative committee.
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.
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[...]
A whistleblower complaint?
Railbirds in recent days have been buzzing with talk that McKay is also the subject of a whistleblower complaint, and the director confirmed that he’s heard the chatter – but said he hasn’t seen anything to substantiate it.
McKay gets rid of investigative group, says it’s not retaliation
The new leader of Arizona’s child protection agency has eliminated the internal unit that investigated him and other employees for unsubstantiated workplace infractions, but said the move wasn’t retaliatory.
