Arizona Continues Record Pace of Taking Children out of Homes into State Custody – Now 1 of every 100 Children in Foster Care

Arizona House Democrats criticize Gov. Ducey and the Foster Care system. Image source.

Health Impact News

Ever since the inception of MedicalKidnap.com in the fall of 2014, we have been reporting that the State of Arizona has the highest percentage of any other state in the U.S. in taking children out of their homes and putting them into foster care.

Are we to believe that there are more criminal, abusive parents in Arizona than anywhere else?

Reports show that these state-sponsored kidnappings are only getting worse in 2015. Local media reports that the numbers are still rising.

Arizona State democrats have also criticized Republican Governor Doug Ducey in a recent blog post, noting that 1 in every 100 Arizona children is now in foster care.

Ask Ducey Why

By Arizona House Democrats

The only thing more shocking than the number of Arizona children still in crisis is the governor’s failure to develop a concrete plan for fixing the year-old Department of Child Safety. The Brewer administration created this department after disbanding the overwhelmed Child Protective Services, which left more than 6,000 reports of abuse and neglect uninvestigated.

The creation of the Department of Child Safety was supposed to ensure that child safety was a priority in the state. It was tasked with reviewing the uninvestigated reports and working through a 14,762-case backlog and then focus on prevention services that help keep families from moving into crisis. A year later, child safety services in Arizona remain in critical condition. And some argue the situation has actually gotten worse:

* The backlog is up from 14,762 in 2014 to 15,473 in 2015
* The number of Arizona children entering foster care is 56 percent higher in 2015[1] than in 2014
* One in every 100 Arizona children is in foster care[2]
* 287 children slept in DCS offices for at least one night in April 2015
* About one in five kids removed from unsafe homes in Arizona were initially placed in group homes or shelters
* About one in four reports of abuse or neglect remain unresolved since 2014

As long as the Department of Child Safety stays in crisis itself, it will never be focused on prevention, and the number of at-risk children in our state will continue to rise. The governor, so far, has not provided a meaningful plan for getting this department on track. House Democrats have asked repeatedly to receive regular updates about the department, so they can ensure it is getting the resources needed to keep kids safe. Those requests have not been answered sufficiently. But we will continue to ask.

To find ways to get involved, call for more accountability and demand a plan from the governor, click here. It’s time to #AskDuceyWhy things are still this bad #OneYearLater.

Source.

More about Arizona State-sponsored Kidnappings.

Published on June 5, 2015

6 Comments

Paul July 13, 2015 at 10:59 pm - Reply

Title 18 U.S.C Section 241 
Title 18 U.S.C Section 242
Arrest them all
Let’s see them keep this up from federal prison
My four children as well

adam June 7, 2015 at 1:04 am - Reply

Arizona’s the one of the most corrupt estates I’ve ever seen and I’m a victim of it along with my family

Ashli Goodspeed June 8, 2015 at 1:37 pm - Reply

Adam-yes, they are regarding CPS, for sure!  We are dealing with it right now, my son did nothing wrong, the baby’s mom did and she has basically since disappeared and they’re treating my son like he’s the one that has done wrong by his daughter and making him go thru hell to get her back.  They’re horrible, horrible, people that work for this agency.

Steve M June 5, 2015 at 5:00 pm - Reply

Ashli, I don’t know about Arizona, but in PA we don’t see a judge unless they request TPR (Termination of Parental Rights). Instead, we see the “Master”, which is a lawyer acting on the judge’s behalf, essential an arbitrator. They always side with CYS. In PA, you have the right to request your review hearings with a real judge who is far more likely to return a child against CYS/CPS’s recommendation in most states. It can’t hurt you to see a judge, but it could save the child from continued hell.

My daughter was gone for almost 2 years because the Master kept giving continuances. CYS was covering their asses with allegation after allegation that contradicted each other and every time we satisfied one “concern” a new one would come up. Finally, CYS requested TPR because we found out that they had been trying to cover their asses the entire time because our first caseworker opened the case so that he would have continued access to the oxycodone and methadone that my oncologist prescribed. They were hoping that the judge would blindly terminate and hurt our civil case.

They don’t like admitting mistakes, so a crack addict has an easier time getting their kid back than an innocent parent because the innocent parent can’t apologize and say that they “learned something”.

He should definitely ask for a real judge before CPS asks for a TPR because TPR requests are rarely denied.

Ashli Goodspeed June 8, 2015 at 1:35 pm - Reply

Steve,
They have a judge that’s there from the beginning and he just seems to agree with whatever CPS has to say and goes along with that.  My son has done nothing wrong at all and they’re treating him like he’s the criminal.  It’s just ridiculous.

Ashli Goodspeed June 5, 2015 at 2:40 pm - Reply

This is exactly right, and I will #AskDuceyWhy!  My nearly 2 year old granddaughter is in this hell-hole of a system right now, it’s been close to a year and they keep prolonging it and dragging it out.  My son did absolutely nothing wrong, my granddaughter’s mother is the one that did something wrong, she od’d in the bathroom with the baby.  My son had to break down the door when he realized she was in there.  He had no idea the mom even used Heroin. He doesn’t use those drugs at all. She admitted hiding it from him.  She has since just disappeared and now my son is dealing with the wrath of these so called child safety workers, for a year they’ve been making him do drug tests, and counseling and classes.  Luckily my granddaughter is with another family member and my son can and does see her all the time, she was in foster care for about 6 weeks.  But they won’t let her live with him yet, they’re doing supervised visits now, some stranger of a case worker picks her up from daycare and takes her to my son’s house for 2 hours and takes her back to daycare twice a week.  No child wants to go back to daycare after they’re picked up! Especially by a stranger!  They’re making my son go thru all kinds of stuff and he’s not the one that did anything wrong.  It seems they’re forgetting that it was the mother that actually caused the problem, not him! And they won’t let me keep the baby cuz I live out of state.  I hate these people with every bone in my body, they are the bottom feeding scum suckers of the earth and are given too much power.  They involve themselves in cases like my son’s where they don’t need to be involved and then leave abused kids in homes where they should not be!  They need to fire every single person in that department and just completely regroup, not just keep changing the head person, they need to change everyone.  And as soon as my son’s case is over, I will be causing the biggest media frenzy ever about his case!  They are dealing with the wrong Grandma-Bear!