Kids in crisis can’t wait any longer
Faltering Department of Child Safety deserves clear leadership right now
Arizona hoped for improvement after Gov. Doug Ducey’s dramatic announcement of changes at the top of the Department of Child Safety. The new director and team of lieutenants installed in February were supposed to make a difference. Two-and-a-half months later, Ducey’s hand-picked second in command, Vicki Mayo, left for another state job. And that’s just part of the churn that has raised troubling questions about whether DCS Director Greg McKay has the skills to fix this big, broken agency.
We don’t doubt McKay’s commitment. He demonstrated a strong desire to help vulnerable children when he became the whistleblower whose revelations about uninvestigated cases led to the creation of the new agency he now heads.
But he brought little administrative experience to the job. That lack of personnel and organizational skills may be showing.
In addition to Mayo’s exit, deputy general counsel Beth Broeker is moving to the Department of Juvenile Corrections, and general counsel Allister Adel resigned. Adel filed a whistleblower complaint against McKay, the details of which are being kept under wraps.
The governor’s office refuses to disclose the complaint, claiming attorneyclient privilege even though Adel was not acting as the governor’s attorney. Really?
McKay fired members of the internal investigations staff (which had investigated him) and program managers who lead regional field offices.
Asked for comment on the churn at the agency and the perception that McKay does not have the experience to manage an organization of this size, DCS spokesman Doug Nick sent an e-mail statement.
It says McKay was given a “clear mandate” by Ducey “to make whatever changes are necessary. ... Change is uncomfortable for many, but an agency that wasn’t meeting expectations cannot be allowed to underperform, especially when the lives and well-being of our most vulnerable population are at stake.” Indeed. Ducey’s spokesman, Daniel Scarpinato, said the turnover reflects “needed changes” and “not a lack of proper administration” on McKay’s part. The governor still believes McKay is “the right guy for the job,” Scarpinato said.
One can certainly make the argument that a new director of a troubled agency has a duty to root out problem employees and bring in people who can help turn things around. But Mayo was not part of the old regime. Nor was a replacement ready for the position she held — a posi- tion the governor felt was important 21⁄ months ago.
DCS carries a legacy of chaos that includes nearly 17,000 children in foster care and a huge backlog of cases that have not gotten the attention they deserve. That legacy includes a high employee turnover rate.
This agency needs stability in order to focus on the needs of children and families. A little institutional memory among employees could help avoid repeating past mistakes.
DCS was 7 months old and clawing its way out of crisis when Ducey took office. He instituted sweeping changes. The agency remains in crisis.
Asking for time to let McKay get this right amounts to setting the clock back to the early days after DCS was formed, when Arizona was told to be patient while the new agency got its footing. How many start-overs do they want?
While adults are rearranging organizational charts, children are waiting. Childhoods are disappearing. Fragile families are breaking and children are suffering pain that could have been prevented. And monsters — yes, we’ll call them that — are brutalizing children who desperately need an effective, wellrun child-welfare agency to protect them.
We believe that’s the governor’s goal. He will have to provide the leadership to make it happen.