Arizona CPS Failed to Investigate 875 Pima Cases UPDATED
“Fewer than 1,000 of the 6,500 child abuse and neglect reports Arizona’s child welfare agency failed to investigate in recent years were in the metro Tucson area.
Of the cases not investigated since 2009, 875 were in Pima County, said Todd Stone, public records coordinator for the state’s Department of Economic Security, which oversees CPS. The majority of cases, 4,450, were in Maricopa County, Stone said. Pinal County was third, with 400 cases.
The remaining cases are spread out across the state, Stone said.
The breakdown came in response to a public-records request by the Arizona Daily Star.
DES Director Clarence Carter revealed the uninvestigated cases in November, prompting Gov. Jan Brewer to appoint a selected group called the CARE team to review the cases.
DES spokeswoman Tasya Peterson could not be reached Thursday for comment on the breakdown, nor on the status of the investigations. But Juvenile Corrections Director Charles Flanagan, who was appointed to lead the CARE team, told The Associated Press on Monday that the team should have all the cases assigned to child welfare investigators by the month’s end.
Flanagan told the AP that 5,128 of the cases are now assigned, and nearly 2,400 children whose cases were neglected have now been seen.
“That means the staff members have actually gone out to locate the family, the residence, have gathered their information and are moving forward on the case,” he said.
He said team members — more than 175 CPS workers are assigned to the effort at least part time — started with the most recent cases because those children are likely at the most immediate risk. Nearly every case reported in 2012 and 2013 has been investigated, he told the AP.
With a record number of children in foster care and group homes — 15,000 in the state and 5,000 in Pima County — CPS is removing children from their homes at the highest rate in the nation.
In the last two years, at least 67 Arizona children died from maltreatment even though they were known to CPS. Some had open cases, and others had cases that had been recently closed, the state’s annual Child Fatality Review shows.
CPS failed to investigate 875 Pima cases, records show[Arizona Daily Star 1/10/14 By Patti Machelor]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Update: “Gov. Jan Brewer inked her approval Thursday to immediately give nearly $6.9 million more to the state’s child-welfare agency.
The money will pay for 192 new staffers for the new Division of Child Safety and Family Services, which is replacing the old Child Protective Services. That includes 126 caseworkers.
It is designed to deal with the increasing number of complaints of abuse and to make a dent in the backlog of 10,000 cases that have been listed as inactive because they have not been addressed in at least two months.
Brewer, who made the request, wants lawmakers to fund an additional 86 caseworkers and 54 support workers in next year’s budget.
The governor also agreed to let state lawmakers spend $100,000 to fight subpoenas several of them have received in connection with the ongoing legal battle in federal court over SB 1070.
Several provisions of that controversial 2010 law dealing with illegal immigration already have been declared unconstitutional. But challengers are still trying to get a judge to void a section that requires police to question those they have stopped if there is reason to believe they are in this country illegally.
Foes hope to convince U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton that provision is illegal because it was motivated by racial animosity. And they are seeking emails of current and former lawmakers in an effort to make that claim.
The special appropriation was necessary because the state is required to defend legislators only when they are defendants in court actions. Here they are essentially witnesses being asked to produce documents.
Brewer also signed other bills to provide additional dollars for the Independent Redistricting Commission to defend its work in three lawsuits, one of which was filed by Republican legislative leaders, and to the Navigable Stream Adjudication Commission for its own legal expenses.”
Brewer signs off on added CPS funding[Arizona Star Net 2/7/14 by Howard Fischer Capitol Media Services]
I hope truly all of this cps investigation in the headlines is true and not just another alleged end of cps 9 year or however long it is now for another one of their alledged fiscal terms ending in which all that alledgedly happens is these states all get their chance at cleaning their slates while claiming something is truly being done about all this corruptions lies scandals alledgedly telling the public they are handling things making changes going over each case completely while alledgedly claiming yes each and every one was investigated and then handled properly if they are abolished what does abolished mean gone they would have would not have any more say or anything left for them to say or do with any of these childrens lifes they have so much destroyed then it looks like to me this is only a alledged clean sweep where they simply claim these childrens cases are being investigated then claim they close them dont they really alledgedly mean burning the childrens files doing a clean sweep making sure that there is not anything left of their screwups then they alledgedly go on to legally change their names move to other states as they are alledgedly most likely doing the same for these children yet again once again i say bout every 9 or so years lets see cps cws dcfs and so on while they are alledgedly making sure that all their money that they have alledgedly have most likely completely stored laundered away in their alledged swiss bank accounts real estate all their alledged phony non profit charities worldwide is completely tucked away, all of their illegal kidnappings killings druggings child trafficking for sex pedophile rings will be wiped clean alledgedly as for our schools they need to fire and charge these alledged special bonuses that these teachers make these teachers whom are alledgedly allowed to make a contracted deal for that 30,000 bonus paid up front to pick two children per classroom a year to alledgedly build cases for cps for and when they alledgedly try to back out they have to pay back money and are fired from ever being able to teach anywhere ever again the alledged laundering their money in real estate to alledgedly to rent out to illegal immigrants for pennies while alledgedly paying them 8,000 per child to keep these kidnapped children hidden social workers are alledgedly getting paid 50,000 up front for every child when they take them and make sure they are not returned or money has to be returned alledgedly school principals being married to cops alledgedly cops being married to social workers so alledgedly once children are taken they alledgedly work together to watch these children so tightly so that a parent can not go near there schools alledgedly police getting paid huge bonuses to aid these social working monsters they alledgedly keep your children in their same schools then often even place them in alledged locked down homes right near where you live while these police alledgedly even work out deals with arrested drug dealers all over the neighborhood where they were taken so that alledgedly these parents become arrested for breaking some sort of stay away order see something is becoming fishy about this cps reform business that is seeming more like an alledged scandal where is talk of parents or these children being gaven any opportunity any chance for the opportunities to be heard nothing is being said about lawsuits or actions against these workers reopening up each and every case where parents and children are brought back together to see what was the truth the children given a voice for once to tell their side and what they really want and really bothering is it was stated that they still would be going to be able to remain an agency of their own for what they are being able to hold their own swat teams to investigate themselves does it not bother president obama that one social worker alledgedly makes more than him in one day to rip apart loving families while lying stealing and cheating then drugging these poor children only to sell them like cattle to rapists pedophiles killing them even and all they needed was 6 weeks of education to make more than him i not to mention all they have done is make him look like a … because everything that he fought and swore for this country for was meaningless i hope that it truly unacceptable to him or he needs to truly step down and reevaluate his true intentions because truly his parents would not or could not be proud of this no parent would and deep down i am sure from what i can see is that his wife michelle whom i am sure has no real idea of any of this as i hope he does not too no sane human being whom has children themselves could ever let this happen.
Exactly what I thought! They are getting bonuses to every kid they take from where most kids are happy at and then scaring them by putting them with strangers after being taught stranger danger and their civil rights being violated as being held against their will. All I have to say is very well said “j” kudos to you big time!