Child Welfare System – Arizona

Reports give grim outlook for Arizona child welfare, By Mary Jo Pitzl, March 14, 2014, Arizona Republic: “Two reports set the stage for the daunting work facing the state task force charged with reinventing the state’s child-welfare agency. They confirm in numbers and trend lines the continued issues confronting child safety in Arizona: an increasing number of reports of child abuse and neglect, a growing number of kids in foster care and a revolving door for a quarter of the children caught up in the child-welfare system. The reports — one from a University of Chicago research institution and one from the state’s newly created Division of Child Safety and Family Services — come as a task force appointed by Gov. Jan Brewer continues work on a plan to create a new child-welfare agency to replace the scandal-plagued Child Protective Services. The task force is aiming for a May 1 deadline to present a draft legislative bill, which then must be vetted by lawmakers…”