The director of the Arizona Department of Child Services joins us on set to talk about the need for Foster...
News Releases
March 10, 2016 | Press Release
March 10, 2016 | Press Release
PHOENIX (Thursday, March 10, 2016) – Wednesday’s discovery of an abandoned newborn girl in Mesa brings attention to the importance of Arizona’s “Safe Haven” law and the continuing critical need for more foster parents.
In desperate circumstances where a baby’s parent believes they simply can’t care for their child, babies are abandoned as occurred in Mesa this past week. It is...
March 09, 2016 | Press Release
Every child deserves a safe and loving home, yet some children enter the world without either. The Department of Child Safety is dedicated to the mission that all Arizona children should be safe and belong in strong forever families. Â
When a newborn child is abandoned as occurred this week in Mesa, Arizona goes to work to protect these vulnerable infants. In desperate circumstance...
March 01, 2016 | Press Release
Yesterday various news agencies reported the closure of the DCS placement center with an emphasis on children “once again sleeping on the floors” of state agency offices.Â
The “story behind the story” is that the placement center was needed due to an average 30-hour wait time for children to be placed. To solve the root problem, the Department of Child Safety has beefed up staff,...
February 12, 2016 | Press Release
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The Children's Heart Gallery, an initiative of DCS, is a digital exhibit of high quality, compelling photographs capturing the unique personalities of children in Arizona who are waiting to be adopted.
PFCU will display these photographs on its television...
January 25, 2016 | Press Release
In the Jan. 20 editorial “Sadly, governor’s budget doesn’t match his words,” The Republic referred to a “growing backlog” of inactive DCS cases.
I would like to offer an update of the backlog numbers. They’re going down significantly and have been for some time.
...
December 03, 2015 | Press Release
TUCSON (Thursday, December 3, 2015) - The Department of Child Safety today launched the CarePortal from the First Assembly of God Church in Tucson. Â
The CarePortal will help DCS staff link multiple churches to needy children and families involved in the child welfare system. Â Often, families caring for children in foster care are presented with a variety of challenges that could place...
December 02, 2015 | Press Release
PHOENIX (Wednesday, December 02, 2015) – Department of Child Safety (DCS) Director Greg McKay today released data showing improvement in several crucial areas.
Child welfare has been, and will continue to be a high volume, high risk industry. Arizona's Department of Child Safety (formerly Child Protective Services) has continuously suffered the effect of demands outpacing capacity. The...
December 01, 2015 | Press Release
PHOENIX (Tuesday, December 1, 2015) - The Arizona Department of Child Safety has submitted its agency rules package to the Arizona Secretary of State.
When DCS was created in May of 2014, state lawmakers included in the enacting legislation for the agency - previously a part of the Department of Economic Security – an exemption from certain rulemaking requirements to draft its own set...
November 09, 2015 | Statement
PHOENIX (November 9, 2015) – On November 7, 2015, the Department of Child Safety (DCS) and the Mesa Police Department conducted a joint investigation into the child abuse related death of five year old, Helious Griffith. Helious was admitted as a patient at Cardon Children's Medical Center when he was killed by his mother, Lola Griffith (27). His mother then committed suicide at the scene. ...