jan brewer

DCS Efforts to Improve are Overshadowed by Severe Child Abuse Cases in Arizona

 

Despite efforts to overhaul the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) for the better, two cases of severe child abuse involving malnourishment, neglect and death have made headlines in the Valley recently.

In late May, 3-year-old Alexandra Velazco was found dead in her home in Surprise despite several interactions with DCS before she was even born.

In May 2011, Alexandra and her mother, Rosemary Velazco, both tested positive for amphetamines. She was removed from her parents care for a year after her birth until both Rosemary and Alexandra’s father, Carlos Cruz, completed substance abuse treatment and parenting classes in April 2012. A few months later in July, the case was closed.

However, complaints were made to DCS again earlier this year, and agents removed an infant from their home not knowing that Alexandra and her 6-year-old brother were living there. The two were kept out of sight in a bedroom.

When Alexandra was found, she weighed only 15 pounds, was covered in bruises, lacerations and showed signs of sexual abuse, The Arizona Republic reports.

Joylynne Giebel is another example of a child who died under the watch of DCS. On June 5, DCS got a call that Giebel, 21-months-old, was dead in her home in Mesa. She died six months after DCS received its fifth call for complaints that her stepfather, Andrew Isaacs, abused and neglected her.

She was found with bruises on her face and body, internal trauma and three broken ribs, according to the DCS report.

While this type of extreme abuse most likely isn’t an everyday case for DCS workers, reports indicate that abuse and neglect aren’t uncommon in the state.

Recent data from DCS reports that one out of every 100 children in Arizona is in a form of foster or out-of-home care, and a 2014 comparison of each child protection system in the state by the Annie E. Casey Foundation ranked Arizona’s system 46th in the nation.

Earlier this year, a coalition led by the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest against DCS and Department of Health Services filed a federal class-action lawsuit due to the maintenance of a “dangerous, severely deficient foster care system,” Phoenix New Times reports.

To make matters worse, DCS is also under pressure to take care of 13,000 cases that have been considered inactive and others that haven’t been investigated at all in addition to the active cases workers attend to every day.

Arizona has been working for over a year to improve the system since former Governor Jan Brewer abolished Child Protective Services for a new, cabinet-level system.

Former DCS director Charles Flanagan and current director Greg McKay have made efforts to correct the system by fixing the child abuse hotline, increase staffing and improving the quality of foster families, but the deaths of Alexandra Velazco and Joylynne Giebel bring to light that these changes haven’t been significant enough to overcome the shadow surrounding DCS and child abuse in the state.

Arizona Issues First Blue Alert After DPS Officer is Shot

After a Department of Public Safety (DPS) officer was shot in the face during a routine traffic stop on October 8, the first Arizona Blue Alert was issued, informing residents and the media of the attack and the five suspects who were still on the loose.

The National Blue Alert System is activated when an officer has been killed or seriously injured. The alert disseminates specific information about suspected offenders statewide, including descriptions of the vehicle, license plate and people involved when officials determine that threats to the public and law enforcement still exist.

Arizona authorities pointed to the system as a vital tool in gathering information in the investigation, stating that the blue alert had led to a tip soon after the alert was issued.

“We got calls from citizens who were out there, and they were paying attention,” Phoenix Police Spokesman James Holmes told the Arizona Republic.

Authorities said they later found the suspects’ vehicle at an abandoned house near 29th Avenue and Pima.

In July, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law House Bill 2323, making Arizona the 19th state to have a Blue Alert system. In total, 20 states now use a Blue Alert system to inform the public of an attack on an officer, The National Blue Alert System reports.

Arizona’s first blue alert came after an Arizona officer stopped a vehicle with tinted windows at 3:30 a.m. on Oct. 8 near I-17 and McDowell Road. While talking with the passengers, someone inside the vehicle opened fire and shot the officer twice in the face, ABC 15 said.

Two officers were called for backup and were shot at, but not injured, by the suspects who police identified as two men and three women in a blue 2008 Mercury Sable with Kansas license plates.

Read more about this case here.

Police said, according to ABC 15, that the suspects fled the scene, and within 40 minutes, Arizona’s first ever Blue Alert was issued where electronic highway signs around the state administered the alert, listing details of the car.

The injured officer underwent surgery and the hospital reports the 6-year DPS veteran is in stable condition, ABC 15 said.

Police are currently searching for the attackers.

Former Arizona CPS Staffers Claim Ex-Director Knew of Uninvestigated Reports

Former Child Protective Services staffers claim they weren’t the only ones who knew of un-investigated reports but claim they were fired while the agency’s ex-director, Clarence Carter, stays put.

At least five former Child Protective Services staffers said in a report that Carter knew cases were not actively being investigated and that he had knowledge of the agency’s attempt to cover up the problem years before the investigation of the agency broke out.

However, Clarence Carter told the Department of Public Safety, after the discovery that over 6,000 reports of child abuse and neglect had gone un-investigated, that he had no knowledge of cases not being assigned or handled until November 2013.Clarence Carter

The former CPS employees, on the other hand, are saying that discussions between Carter and at least five others about the neglected reports took place starting in 2011, according to the Arizona Republic.

Governor Jan Brewer is currently reworking CPS (learn more about Gov. Brewer’s changes to CPS here) by giving it a new name, the Division of Child Safety and Family Services, and changing the infrastructure of the agency altogether. She appointed Charles Flanagan to replace Carter as director of the agency, but Carter remains involved in the division.

Both Flanagan and Carter have since fired five former staffers and the deputy director of programs at Department of Economic Security, Sharon Sergent, who was involved in the development of an informal policy that designated unassigned child abuse and child neglect reports as “Not Investigated”.

Thousands of cases were unworthy of investigation “NI” under this policy so that when unassigned reports were looked up, they at least had the appearance of a legitimate classification, the Arizona Republic reports.

While Sergent and others such as, Tracey Everitt who was one of the five fired employees involved in the NI process, claim that Carter was informed of the policy all along, yet Carter has not been linked to the issue and is no where near being terminated like Sergent or Everitt.

While some support Carter, like Rep. Steve Smith R-Maricopa and Flanagan, Carter’s role as the former leader of CPS is enough fuel for many others to believe that he should be fired from the agency altogether, disregarding whether or not he knew of the NI policy.

“To me, it’s a problem if he knew, and it’s a problem if he didn’t know,” Rep. Debbie McCune Davis, D-Phoenix, told The Arizona Republic.

“As leader of the organization, he should have known about that, and if he didn’t, why didn’t he? Was he not checking with the supervisors?”

Despite contrasting opinions from state officials, speculation and reports from multiple former CPS employees, Carter remains in position, and the Governor’s Office has made no motions indicating that will change.

Embattled Child Abuse Agency Abolished by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer abolished the state’s Child Protective Services (CPS) minutes before delivering her State of the State address on Monday, Jan. 13.

Minutes before delivering what many consider to be her last address, Brewer signed an executive order abolishing the troubled agency.

The announcement surprised lawmakers, as did Brewer’s proposal that the agency’s duties should now fall under a new cabinet-level department that would report directly to Brewer.Arizona Governor Jan Brewer

“It is evident that our child welfare system is broken, impeded by years of structural and operational failures,” Brewer said during her annual address.

The announcement came as state officials continue to sort through more than 6,500 cases that CPS admitted had not been investigated, despite reports of abuse and neglect.

Brewer announced that she would favor reform of the system, and on, Jan. 13, officially created a new Division of Child Safety and Family Services with a director who would report directly to her. The Arizona governor would need the support of lawmakers to establish such a department.

On Jan. 30, the Arizona Legislature approved a $6.8 million appropriation that will allow Brewer’s updated agency to immediately hire 192 new workers. $1.1 million will go to the current budget and another $5.7 million will go to the new agency, ABS 15 and the AP report.

Currently, almost 7,000 cases are being reviewed by the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

Clarence Carter, director of Arizona’s Department of Economic Security, revealed the uninvestigated reports on Nov. 21, placing five CPS workers on leave as officials investigated the claims. In late December, officials announced that nearly 1,700 of the 6,500 cases had been reviewed and cleared.

Brewer’s announcement ended the tenure of Carter and replaced him with Charles Flanagan, who oversees Arizona’s Department of Juvenile Corrections.

More troubling, however is the fact that there is no standard for making a report, causing many illegitimate claims to be mixed in with legitimate claims. Because of this level of scrutiny, our experience has shown that many frivolous claims are investigated when they should be dropped, keeping investigators from the real claims of abuse that need a closer review.

A few questions to consider regarding the proposed reform:

– How does the Brewer proposal actually solve the problems of CPS?

– Will the new agency see an increase in investigators, allowing them sufficient time to investigate each claim?

– Will the law of mandatory reporting and mandatory investigating be changed to benefit CPS?

– How will this new investigating agency identify the problems that led to the original CPS controversies?

Brewer also told lawmakers she is hoping to create a campaign against human trafficking that will strengthen laws, better protect its victims, and end the gruesome crime. She established a Human Trafficking Task Force last year and with its recommendations, plans to improve on their methods of protection, as well as establishing a campaign to give victims of human trafficking the resources and support systems to create a life of their own.

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