AZ - 6,000 child abuse reports not investigated

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http://www.centurylink.net/news/rea...p-6000_arizona_child_abuse_reports_not_inv-ap

PHOENIX (AP) — Thousands of cases of suspected child abuse that were reported to a statewide hotline have gone uninvestigated over the past four years, putting children across Arizona at risk, state officials disclosed Thursday.

The cases were misclassified as not requiring investigations starting in 2009. The number rapidly escalated in the past 20 months as caseloads increased and changes were made to the hotline team, said Clarence Carter, head of the state's child welfare system.

Five thousand of the 6,000 cases that were not investigated happened in that time, and all will be reviewed, Carter said. At least 125 cases already have been identified where children subsequently became the subject of another child abuse investigation.

"The idea that there are 6,000 cases where we don't know whether or not children are safe, that's cause for grave alarm," Carter said.

More in 3p. article....
 
Arizona debacle spotlights child-welfare agencies

http://www.centurylink.net/news/rea...p-arizona_child_abuse_reports_botched_prob-ap

PHOENIX (AP) — A scandal in which 6,000 child-abuse complaints in Arizona were filed away and never investigated illustrated what advocates say is a tragically common problem across the U.S.: Many child-protection agencies have crushing workloads and inadequate oversight.

In some cases, those flaws have led to deaths and criminal charges against social workers.

"This is a system that years ago was dubbed a poor system for poor people, and very often the resources are not there to do this very difficult and very important work," said Dr. Howard Dubowitz, a pediatrician who studies child protection policies at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

"The notion that this is a system that is nicely equipped to fulfill its mandate is often a dream that some of us are hanging onto."..........

More in 3p. article....
 
The first thought that came to mind when I read this story the other day was "how many little ones are in the landfill as their final resting place all because CPS could not be bothered to checking out or investigating reports of abuse perpetrated upon them? How many little Jhessye Shockleys might there be out there thanks to this lack of investigation?"
 
Arizona gov in spotlight over child abuse failures

http://centurylink.net/news/read/ca...p-brewer_in_spotlight_after_child_abuse_fa-ap

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer could be politically damaged by revelations that her administration ignored thousands of child abuse and neglect reports that prompted calls for her to replace her hand-picked leader of the state's social services agency.

While Brewer has made reforming Child Protective Services one of her top priorities in the past several years, critics of the Republican governor say the failures show her administration continues to shortchange kids......

Last January, Brewer personally took credit in her State of the State address for "overhauling" the hotline system so urgent calls received priority. But that overhaul apparently included simply closing thousands of abuse reports.

Now, criticism is coming from both Democrats and members of Brewer's own party, who appeared blindsided by the news......more in 3p. article......
 
Gov. Brewer creates team to oversee CPS investigations

snip

The CARE Team is chaired by Charles Flanagan, Director of the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections. Other team members include Arizona State Senator Leah Landrum Taylor; Arizona State Representative Kate Brophy McGee; Robert Bell, Children's Justice Coordinator at the Childhelp Children's Center of Arizona; Cindi Nannetti, a veteran prosecutor with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office; Deb Gullett, child advocate and former legislator; Greg McKay, Chief of the Office of Child Welfare Investigations (OCWI); Jan Strauss, a former Mesa Police Chief; and a CPS representative (TBA).

The Team will oversee CPS staff investigating cases designated "NI" and report directly to Governor Brewer.

more at link

http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/...oversee-cps-investigations?utm_medium=twitter
 
there is a public forum on this mess tomorrow at 5:30 - I am going to try to go and will report back. I don't have a lot of hope for the meeting being productive - I expect it will just serve to further infuriate many many folks. I don't have children, but I think that, as a human being living in this repressive state, and more importanly, in this country, that I have a responsibility to all children, who will inherit this place after I am gone. MOO.
 
there is a public forum on this mess tomorrow at 5:30 - I am going to try to go and will report back. I don't have a lot of hope for the meeting being productive - I expect it will just serve to further infuriate many many folks. I don't have children, but I think that, as a human being living in this repressive state, and more importanly, in this country, that I have a responsibility to all children, who will inherit this place after I am gone. MOO.


~bbm

What does this mean, exactly, and what does it have to do with this CPS issue?
 
CPS: A system still in crisis

Pictures


http://www.azcentral.com/photo/News/Other/24331

Not sure if this will work but here goes. (nah, you have to go to the link to read each title below)

Arizona CPS still struggles despite scrutiny
CPS oversight committee talks effects of sequester
Arizona CPS reform moves forward
Arizona CPS given funding to hire 50 new workers
Arizona vaccination-waiver bill advances
Arizona lawmakers fast-track new CPS hires
Arizona grandparents raising grandkids may get help
Brewer's budget plan features boost to CPS
Arizona foster-care vaccination rule clarified

http://www.azcentral.com/news/child-abuse/
 
Thousands of Ignored Child Abuse Allegations Plague Arizona Welfare Agency

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/11/u...ons-plague-arizona-welfare-agency.html?ref=us

PHOENIX — A longtime homicide detective on assignment with Arizona’s child welfare agency noticed an unfamiliar notation — N.I., for not investigated — as he examined a file containing allegations of sibling-on-sibling sexual abuse. When he encountered the notation again, on a file listing accusations that a father burned his son with an iron, the detective began asking questions. .......

Mending the agency has ranked among Ms. Brewer’s priorities, but lasting results have eluded her. In January, in her State of the State address, she took credit for reforming the hotline system that had closed thousands of neglect and abuse calls without further study. But it was the investigative unit she established last year that uncovered the ignored cases.

About 2,000 calls were assessed over three days last month. Last week, she asked a team of legislators, prosecutors, child welfare advocates and state officials to oversee the investigation of each of the calls that had not been investigated, and to identify poor practices within the agency. But on Friday, team members ordered that the cases be re-examined after learning that some of the same people who could have been involved in shelving the calls were taking part in the review. ........

Already, the child welfare agency has a backlog of 10,000 cases and an additional 12,000 whose investigations, started in the last budget year, have not been completed, according to an analysis by Children’s Action Alliance, one of the largest advocacy groups in the state. The reports of neglect increased by 36 percent from October 2007 to last March, and more children died as a result of maltreatment last year (70) than in 2007 (60), the analysis said. The agency says it has roughly 600 fewer caseworkers than what it would need to meet caseload standards. ......more......
 
Arizona CPS update: Child Protective Services problems more serious than first suggested

Another CPS Oversight Committee hearing was held Monday at the state capitol, and for the first time we got to see the computer program where hotline workers input the information they receive on calls.

Some of what we learned is pretty disturbing. If a call comes into the CPS hotline and workers can't find an address for the child, a report is never filed. That means even if something illegal is happening, it isn't being reported to the Office of Child Welfare Investigations.


Read more: http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/state...re-serious-than-first-suggested#ixzz2nhqmTLIc

I just hope the microscope is on this for many, many, many years to come. Attitude adjustments have always appeared necessary here both with parents of children & the state. Thank goodness! Honestly, I think it needs done in every state but this case needs investigated by a higher autority than JB's hand picked crew.

Another article of just one CPS worker. (files were from 2008 and 2009 so?)

Arizona CPS update: DPS director Clarence Carter says abuse records found in alley old

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/regio...old?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Per your article linked above Reader. Thanks.

But on Friday, team members ordered that the cases be re-examined after learning that some of the same people who could have been involved in shelving the calls were taking part in the review. ........
 
Groups back decision on Ariz. child welfare agency

http://centurylink.net/news/read/ca...p-groups_back_decision_on_ariz_child_welfa-ap

PHOENIX (AP) — Children's advocacy groups are looking at a decision by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to replace the state's troubled child welfare agency with a new Cabinet-level division as a sign that she's serious about protecting children — even as they await details on how the new agency will operate.

Brewer announced Monday during her annual State of the State address that she is dissolving Child Protective Services after a recent scandal that "breaks my heart and makes me angry."

Investigators in November said the agency had failed to look into more than 6,500 reports of abuse and neglect.

Brewer's executive order puts the state's Juvenile Corrections director in charge of the new Child Safety and Family Services Division.

Children's advocacy groups praised the decision but said a long-term solution has to include early intervention to prevent child abuse and a larger network of resources. The advocacy groups and some Arizona lawmakers had been pressing for the agency to be moved out from beneath the state Department of Economic Security, which her decision did.

"We can't continue business as usual," said Dana Wolfe Naimark, president and chief executive of the Children's Action Alliance. "The hard work begins now.".........more.......
 

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