Arizona CPS struggles continue, By Mary K. Reinhart, January 24, 2013, Arizona Republic: “Arizona’s child-welfare agency continues to struggle with a record number of children in foster care and fields more reports of abuse and neglect than ever, according to new state data. But the biannual report released Thursday showed at least one bright spot: an increase in the number of family foster homes for the first time in three years. State officials highlighted improvements in the child-abuse hotline, caseworker recruitment and training, as well as Gov. Jan Brewer’s request for $88 million in new funding for caseworkers and foster-care expenses. But they acknowledged that the persistent flood of new abuse and neglect cases, unwieldy caseloads and an unprecedented number of foster kids are impeding the ability of Child Protective Services to make significant headway toward improving the system…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty