Spotty compliance hinders foster-care protections
It’s hard to know how well states comply with federal requirements for getting money for their foster-care systems, a recent investigation concluded.
When it comes to Arizona, it’s even more difficult: Arizona’s Department of Child Safety was the only agency out of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico to not respond to a survey by The Boston Globe and ProPublica as part of their research into the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act.
Greg McKay, the DCS director when the survey arrived in August 2017, declined to fill it out, calling it a “time consuming, lengthy, non-value added survey,” the Globe/ProPublica story said.
The Arizona Republic asked whether new DCS Director Mike Faust would respond to the 76-question survey. DCS did not respond to that direct request, but elaborated on its earlier refusal.
“After reviewing the length and content of the survey, the department determined that since most of the information is available in our public reporting that we would not participate,” the agency wrote in a statement released Monday.
The Globe and ProPublica survey sought to gauge adherence to key parts of the federal law: Whether children were being properly protected, as well as ensuring parents have a right to appeal allegations of abuse and neglect.
States must demonstrate compliance with CAPTA provisions to receive federal funding. For the current budget year, Arizona is receiving $1.3 million in CAPTA dollars.
The investigation found spotty compliance and little oversight other than receipt of the reports by the Children’s Bureau, the arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services which handles CAPTA.
Although Arizona did not respond to the survey, the reporters obtained information from public records, other organizations — such as the courts — and interviews with child-welfare experts.
Here’s how the Globe and ProPublica rated Arizona in the five broad categories covered by CAPTA:
❚ Creation of “safe care” plans for children born with substance exposure: Arizona was deemed “minimally compliant,” along with 23 other states.
❚ Policies that permit children to remain in their family setting, even if there is a report of neglect or abuse: Arizona was rated not compliant, as were 22 other states.
❚ Legal representation for children, specifically through the appointment of “guardian ad litems” to look out for the child’s best interest: Arizona was minimally complaint, along with 40 other states.
❚ Reporting child fatalities and near fatalities: Arizona was one of 17 states that got good marks for fully reporting this data. DCS makes that information available on its website.
❚ Parents’ right to appeal a finding of abuse or neglect: Arizona was partially compliant, as were 18 other states. Arizona maintains a Central Registry which lists people who have substantiated reports of child abuse and neglect, and allows for administrative appeals. However, the DCS director can overturn an appeal. The system is being challenged in Maricopa County Superior Court.