6,000 Arizona child abuse reports not investigated
Source: Associated Press
6,000 Arizona child abuse reports not investigated
By BOB CHRISTIE, Associated Press | November 21, 2013 | Updated: November 21, 2013 3:54pm
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.
Arizona's Child Protective Services department has been one of Gov. Jan Brewer's major priorities and has suffered from understaffing and major increases in abuse reports and workloads in recent years. She got approval from the Legislature in January for emergency funding for 50 new caseworkers and regular funding for 150 more in the budget year that began July 1.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/6-000-Arizona-child-abuse-reports-not-investigated-4998780.php
= new reply since forum marked as read
