Settlement could end 6-year legal fight over changes to foster care in Arizona
A six-year drive to reform the state’s foster-care system could end Friday, when a federal judge will consider final approval of a class-action settlement.
The settlement, reached in negotiations between the Arizona Department of Child Safety and child-welfare advocates, outlines four major areas of improvement. Attorneys for both sides say they expect the settlement, which got preliminary approval in October, will get a final OK from U.S. District Court Judge Roslyn Silver.
But first, Silver will consider the 81 written comments submitted on the terms of the agreement. She could modify, reject or accept the deal.
Attorney Rob Ellman, who represents DCS, said he doesn’t anticipate any “serious issues” will arise.
“It’s all about compliance now,” he said.
Tracking improvements
The settlement revolves around improved services for children in foster care. There currently are 13,500 children in Arizona’s system.
The agreement maps out detailed steps to improve behavioral-health services, medical and dental care, housing availability and caseload management.
“All of that will take time,” said Anne Ronan, an attorney with the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest who took a lead role in settlement negotiations. “But the goal is not just about numbers, it’s about improving quality.”
For example, not only must DCS track how quickly foster children receive the behavioral-health services they are prescribed, Ronan said. The agency also must show how effective those services are, as measured by factors such as how children are progressing in school, whether their symptoms have abated and whether they are showing signs of normal childhood development.
If that doesn’t happen on the timelines DCS agreed to, Ronan said, the underlying lawsuit doesn’t end.
“The things that are clearly the measurable outcomes have to be met,” she said.
In other areas, DCS must:
Put more effort into placing homes rather than group homes.
By July, have a recruitment plan to attract more foster homes for children who have been hard to place, such as medially fragile children or LGBTQ+ children. Also by July, the agency must have a plan to minimize the number of children put into group homes for lack of a foster home. The goal is to get that number as close to zero as possible.
Report how many children get the dental and medical services they’re entitled to and how quickly
children
in
foster those services are provided. By April, the agency must show that over two back-to-back 12-month periods that 85 percent of the children in its care have received their required medical and dental care.
● Monitor the way it assigns cases so case managers have the time to do their work properly.
Ken Fields, a retired Maricopa County Superior Court judge who now runs a mediation service, has been appointed as mediator over any disputes that might arise between DCS and the plaintiffs.
Long time coming
Friday’s hearing falls six years and one week from the date plaintiffs, on behalf of Arizona’s foster children, sued in federal court to force changes to a system that they said “shocks the conscience” with its shoddy treatment of vulnerable children.
The original filing listed a handful of foster children and the advocate speaking on behalf of them. Silver later approved it as a class-action suit on behalf of all foster children, current and future. DCS fought that designation, taking the matter all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court declined to hear the matter.
Adding to the length of the case was its detailed evidence: Attorneys analyzed 1.5 million documents, and deposed 54 people, the attorneys said in a joint filing with the court.
The case was headed toward a trial last August when attorneys struck an agreement. It came after hours of negotiations conducted over Zoom, given the constraints of the coronavirus pandemic on gathering in enclosed spaces.
Ellman said he
believes
DCS,
which
was
only months old when the suit was filed, had been making strides in recent years, boosting confidence that an agreement could be reached.
DCS was created in May 2014 to be a better, more accountable agency than the existing Child Protective Services division.
“DCS improved its performance considerably in the time this complaint was pending,” Ellman said.
Tweaks proposed
After Silver granted preliminary approval in October, a public comment period opened.
Social-service agencies and children’s advocates generally endorsed the settlement. A few suggested additions to the plan.
For example, the Arizona Children’s Action Alliance proposed the caseload provisions include monitoring of caseworker retention. DCS should also remove barriers to kinship caregivers becoming foster parents, which would open them up to more support from the state.
Anika Robinson, a long-time foster parent and founder of a nonprofit agency that serves foster children and their families, told the court the agreement should list specifics, such as the number of hours of training DCS staffers get and the minimum number of sibling visits foster children are allowed each week.
Jess Bowman, director of a group home for teenage girls, said the DCS office that oversees licensing for foster homes needs oversight itself, citing inconsistent practices. And she worried that behavioral health services might fall short of the agreement’s intent to step up performance.
For example, Bowman wrote, she was told there are only two survivors advocates for victims of sex trafficking in the state, and she has one youth in her home who has been waiting months for assistance.
What’s next
Attorneys for both sides acknowledged the submitted comments, but said they don’t believe the settlement needs any amendments. They called the hardfought settlement “fair, reasonable and adequate.”
The settlement also calls for the plaintiff’s attorneys to be awarded $6.5 million in fees, as well as up to $150,00 a month for monitoring DCS’ progress. The class of foster children was represented by the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest, the law firm of Perkins Coie and Children’s Rights, a New York-based advocacy group that has successfully used litigation to force improvements in child-welfare systems in numerous other states.
Friday’s hearing begins at 2 p.m. and will be held almost entirely virtually, with only attorneys for the plaintiffs and DCS allowed in the courtroom. The public can attend via online video.