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  • Home
  • About
    • About DCS
    • Administration
      • Mike Faust, DCS Director
    • Engage
    • Field Offices
    • Policy & Procedure
      • DCS Policy & Procedure
      • DCS Rules & Rulemaking
      • DCS Equal Employment Opportunity Policy
      • DCS Non-Discrimination Policy
      • DCS Limited English Proficiency Policy
    • Procurement & Contracts
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      • Get Involved
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      • Child Safety Specialist
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      • Search All Positions
    • We are Compassioneers
  • News & Reports
    • News Releases
    • DCS Reports
    • Performance Measures
      • DCS Monthly / Semi-Annual Report
      • Agency Progress
    • Child Fatalities / Near Fatalities
    • Process for Release of Info
    • Settlement - Tinsley v. Faust
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      • Steps for Becoming a Foster Parent
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  • Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Basic Information

Who decides what the visitation plan will be?

The visitation plan is developed by the child’s DCS caseworker in collaboration with the child’s parent(s) and the child (if age appropriate). Sometimes the specifics of a visitation plan (for example, frequency or length of visits) are changed by the DCS caseworker in response to a court order. Visitation should occur in the most natural environment possible and with the least level of supervision possible while ensuring the child’s safety.

What information is included in the DCS records the Department may release?

The DCS case file typically includes: DCS investigation case notes, including safety and risk assessments regarding the child and correspondence with the family; court documents filed regarding the child, including the family’s case plan and progress reports filed with the court by DCS; and, reports about the child received by treatment and service providers working with the family.

What are the different types of visits?

There are 3 different types of visitation – therapeutic, supervised, and unsupervised. Therapeutic visitation is when visitation is supervised by a therapist in the therapist’s office. Supervised visits can occur in a variety of settings and are supervised by a case aide or parent aide or another DCS approved third party. Unsupervised visits are when the parent(s) are permitted to be alone with their child.

Why must records be reviewed before they are released?

Law enforcement agencies statewide are critical partners in protecting children; they ensure that perpetrators of child abuse or neglect are held accountable for the harm they cause to children.

State law requires that the prosecuting agency be given the opportunity to review DCS records that may be released in order to determine whether the release of the records would cause “specific material harm” to the criminal investigation.

Is there any information that cannot be released?

Information protected by state or federal law cannot be released. This may include: information regarding the source of a DCS report, information related to the privacy and dignity of crime victims (Arizona Constitution), criminal history information obtained from the Department of Public Safety, medical records protected under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, and educational records protected under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

Do I have to transport the child to visits?

DCS may request that you transport the child to visits, but if you are not able to provide this transportation, DCS will make alternate arrangements. Having the foster parent transport a child to visits can make visits easier for the child because you are a person the child already knows.

What if I disagree with the determination that records cannot be released?

If any person believes that a prosecuting agency has failed to demonstrate that the release of DCS records would cause a specific material harm to the criminal investigation, that person may file an action in Superior Court and ask the court to review the DCS records and tell the Department which records can be released.

What happens if someone wants additional records about a case/family where a child has died or nearly died as a result of abuse or neglect beyond what the Department can provide?

State law (see A.R.S. 8-807 K ) allows an individual to petition the Superior Court to request that the Court review the records and tell the Department which records can be released. 

Requests may be emailed, faxed or mailed as indicated on the contact us page.

The more information you provide with your request, the faster the Department will be able to respond to your request. Please provide as much information as possible, including full names and dates of birth for the child, the parents and the alleged perpetrator (if a caregiver other than a parent).

The Records Coordinator will notify you when the request has been received, will provide you with periodic updates on the status of the request, and will provide the records to you once they are available.

Do I have to supervise visits?

DCS may request that you supervise visits, especially if you are a kinship foster parent, but it is not required.

What information is included in a records release?

The DCS case file typically includes: DCS  investigation case notes, including safety and risk assessments regarding the child and correspondence with the family; court documents filed regarding the child, including the family’s case plan and progress reports filed with the court by DCS; and, reports about the child received by treatment and service providers working with the family.

Is there a cost for obtaining the DCS records on a case?

Yes. Contact us for details.

What should I expect when the child in care is initially placed in my home?

The Department of Child Safety (DCS) should make a referral within 72 hours (2 hours for an urgent need) of a child coming into care, this is called a Rapid Response referral. This is an initial in-home assessment during which clinicians will assess immediate needs and triage any crisis or trauma-related issues. Includes behavioral health assessment, screening for developmental delays, support to child/family placement and connection to ongoing services.

If the child in your care is new to the system and has NOT been assessed within 72 hours, please call Member Services or call the dedicated Rapid Response hotline, 602-633-0763. You can also call this 24/7 hotline to schedule an in-home DCS Stabilization Team visit.

For more information on times lines for services and what to expect, visit https://www.mercycareaz.org/

Is there a cost for obtaining DCS records?

Yes. Contact us for details.

Child Abuse and Neglect

When does a foster home investigation occur?

A foster home investigation occurs when an allegation of abuse or neglect is received by the Arizona Child Abuse (DCS) Hotline or when the police are called to the foster home due to incident that could be considered abuse or neglect of a child. When an allegation is made regarding a foster child, the details and context of the situation are assessed just as in any other Hotline call. DCS and/or the Police are responsible for determining whether or not an investigation is warranted. As you can imagine, this is not an easy task. In every situation, the goal is to make sure that every child in care is safe and receiving the quality of care that he or she deserves.

Categories of Abuse and Neglect

The type of abuse occurring and the level of risk to the child determine how Department of Child Safety (DCS) responds to a report. Reports of abuse and neglect are categorized as high risk, low, moderate risk and potential risk. A DCS report is defined based on ARS §8-802 as being an incoming communication to 1-888-SOS-CHILD (1-888-767-2445) containing an allegation that:

a person presently under the age of 18 is the subject of physical, sexual or emotional abuse, neglect, abandonment or exploitation which a parent, guardian or custodian has inflicted, may inflict, permitted another person to inflict or had reason to know another person may inflict AND contains sufficient information to locate the child.

The following are the major categories of abuse and neglect to which DCS responds:

Abuse

Physical Abuse

  • Physical abuse includes the infliction or allowing the infliction of a physical injury to a child.
  • Physical injury is the impairment of a physical condition and includes:
  • skin bruising including bruising to the corners of the mouth which may indicated that the child was gagged,
  • pressure sores,
  • bleeding,
  • failure to thrive or pediatric undernourishment (requires medical diagnosis),
  • malnutrition (requires medical diagnosis),
  • dehydration (requires medical diagnosis),
  • burns, which may include water burns, rope burns, rug burns and other abrasions,
  • subdural hematoma (requires medical diagnosis),
  • soft tissue swelling, which may include bald patches where hair has been pulled out, bite demarcation, and welts such as from cords or other objects,
  • injury to any internal organ (requires medical diagnosis), or
  • any physical condition which imperils a child’s health or welfare.

Physical abuse also includes inflicting or allowing the impairment of bodily function or disfigurement.

Sexual Abuse

National Center for Child Abuse and Child Neglect (NCCAN) defined sexual abuse as the involvement of dependent, developmentally immature children and adolescents in sexual activities that they do not fully comprehend, to which they are unable to give informed consent, or that violate the social taboos of family roles. (The Battered Child, 3rd Ed., Kempe, C. Henry and Helfer, Ray E.) Sexual Abuse is any act designed to stimulate a child sexually, or to use a child for the sexual stimulation either of the perpetrator or of another person. (NCCAN). Sexual Misuse is defined as exposure of a child to sexual stimulation inappropriate for the child's age and role in the family.

Sexual offenses Against Children

Arizona Revised Statutes: Definitions - The following forms of sexual abuse and misuse are included in the ARS definition of child abuse (ARS §8-201(2)):

Sexual Abuse - ARS §13-1404 - " A person commits sexual abuse by intentionally or knowingly engaging in sexual contact with any person fifteen or more years of age without consent of that person or with any person who is under fifteen years of age if the sexual contact involves only the female breast."

Sexual Conduct with a Minor - ARS §13-1405 - "A person commits sexual conduct with a minor by intentionally or knowingly engaging in sexual intercourse or oral sexual contact with any person who is under eighteen years of age."

Sexual Assault - ARS §13-1406 - "A person commits sexual assault by intentionally or knowingly engaging in sexual intercourse or oral sexual contact with any person without consent of such person."

Molestation of a Child - ARS §13-1410 - "A person commits molestation of a child by intentionally or knowingly engaging in or causing a person to engage in sexual contact, except sexual contact with the female breast, with a child under fifteen years of age."

Additional Sexual offenses include:

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of a Minor - ARS §13-3552 - "A person commits commercial sexual exploitation of a minor by knowingly:

Using, employing, persuading, enticing, inducing or coercing a minor to engage in or assist others to engage in exploitive exhibition or other sexual conduct for the purpose of producing any visual or print medium or live act depicting such conduct;

Using, employing, persuading, enticing, inducing or coercing a minor to expose the genitals or anus or the areola or nipple of the female breast for financial or commercial gain;

Permitting a minor under such person’s custody or control to engage in or assist others to engage in exploitive exhibition or other sexual conduct for the purpose of producing any visual or print media or live act depicting such conduct;

Transporting or financing the transportation of any minor through or across the state with the intent that such minor engage in prostitution, exploitive exhibition or other sexual conduct for the purpose of producing a visual or print medium or live act depicting such conduct."

Sexual Exploitation of a Minor - ARS §13-3553 - "A person commits sexual exploitation of a minor by knowingly:

Recording, filming, photographing, developing or duplicating any visual or print medium in which minors are engaged in exploitive exhibition or other sexual conduct;

Distributing, transporting, exhibiting, receiving, selling, purchasing, possessing or exchanging any visual or print medium in which minors are engaged in exploitive exhibition or other sexual conduct."

Incest - ARS §13-3608 - "Persons who are fifteen or more years of age and are within the degrees of consanguinity within which marriages are declared by law to be incestuous and void, who knowingly intermarry with each other, or who knowingly commit fornication or adultery with each other.

Child Prostitution - ARS §13-3212 - " A person commits child prostitution by knowingly:

Causing any minor to engage in prostitution;

Using any minor for purposes of prostitution;

Permitting a minor under such persons custody or control to engage in prostitution;

Receiving any benefit for or on account of procuring or placing a minor in any place or in the charge or custody of any person for the purpose of prostitution;

Receiving any benefit pursuant to an agreement to participate in the proceeds of prostitution of a minor;

Financing, managing, supervising, controlling or owning, either alone or in association with others, prostitution activity involving a minor; Transporting or financing the transportation of any minor through or across this state with the intent that such minor engage in prostitution."

Emotional Abuse

Emotional abuse is evidenced by severe anxiety, depression, withdrawal, or improper aggressive behavior as diagnosed by a medical doctor or psychologist and caused by the acts or omissions of the parent or caretaker (ARS §8-201).

Emotional maltreatment includes blaming, belittling or rejecting a child, constantly treating siblings unequally, and persistent lack of concern by the caretaker for the child's welfare. Emotional maltreatment is rarely manifest in physical signs, particularly in the normal school setting; speech disorders, lags in physical development, and failure to thrive syndrome are physical indicators of emotional maltreatment. More often it is observed through behavioral indicators, and even these indicators may not be immediately apparent.

Neglect

Neglect as defined in A.R.S. § 8-201 (22) means:

  1. The inability or unwillingness of a parent, guardian or custodian of a child to provide that child with supervision, food, clothing, shelter or medical care if that inability or unwillingness causes unreasonable risk of harm to the child's health or welfare, except if the inability of a parent or guardian to provide services to meet the needs of a child with a disability or chronic illness is solely the result of the unavailability of reasonable services.
  2. Permitting a child to enter or remain in any structure or vehicle in which volatile, toxic or flammable chemicals are found or equipment is possessed by any person for the purposes of manufacturing a dangerous drug as defined in section 13-3401.
  3. Prenatal Substance Exposure to Newborn Infant (under 30 days of age) or Infant (from birth up to one year of age)
    1. Newborn Infant (under 30 days of age) - Determination by a health professional that a newborn infant - (under 30 days of age) was exposed prenatally to a drug or substance listed in section 13-3401 and that this exposure was not the result of a medical treatment administered to the mother or the newborn infant by a health professional
    2. Infant (from birth up to one year of age) - A substance exposed infant, from birth up to one year of age, who is demonstrably adversely affected by the mother's use of a dangerous drug, a narcotic drug or alcohol during pregnancy. A dangerous drug or narcotic drug has the same meaning as defined in ARS § 13-3401.
  4. Diagnosis by a health professional of an infant under one year of age with clinical findings consistent with) fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) or fetal alcohol effects (FAE).
  5. Deliberate exposure of a child by a parent, guardian or custodian to:
    1. Sexual Conduct, as defined in section 13-3551, means actual or simulated:
      1. sexual intercourse including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital or oral-anal, whether between persons of the same sex or opposite sex;
      2. penetration of the vagina or rectum by any object except as one does as part of a recognized medical procedure;
      3. sexual bestiality;
      4. masturbation for the purpose of the sexual stimulation of the viewer;
      5. sadomasochistic abuse for the purpose of sexual stimulation of the viewer; or
      6. defecation or urination for the purpose of sexual stimulation of the viewer.
    2. Sexual Contact, as defined in 13-1401, means any direct or indirect touching, fondling or manipulating of any part of the genitals, anus or female breast by any part of the body or by any object or causing a person to engage in such conduct.
    3. Oral Sexual Contact, as defined in § 13-1401, means oral contact with the penis, vulva or anus.
    4. Sexual Intercourse, as defined in § 13-1401, means penetration into the penis, vulva, or anus by any part of the body or by any object or masturbatory contact with the penis or vulva.
    5. Bestiality, as defined in section 13-1411, means engaging in or causing another person to engage in oral sexual contact, sexual contact or sexual intercourse with an animal.
    6. Explicit Sexual Materials, as defined in section 13-3507, means any drawing, photograph, film negative, motion picture, figure, object, novelty device, recording, transcription or any book, leaflet, pamphlet, magazine, booklet or other item, the cover or contents of which depicts human genitalia or depicts or verbally describes nudity, sexual activity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement or sadomasochistic abuse in a way which is harmful to minors.
  6. Any of the following acts committed by the child’s parent, guardian or custodian with reckless disregard as to whether the child is physically present:
    1. Sexual Contact as defined in section 13-1401
    2. Oral Sexual Contact as defined in section 13-1401
    3. Sexual Intercourse as defined in section 13-1401
    4. Bestiality as prescribed in section 13-1411

Abandonment

Is defined in ARS §8-201(1) as "the failure of the parent to provide reasonable support and to maintain regular contact with the child, including the providing of normal supervision, when such failure is accompanied by an intention on the part of the parent to permit such condition to continue for an indefinite period in the future. Abandoned includes a judicial finding that a parent has made only minimal efforts to support and communicate with the child. Failure to maintain a normal parental relationship with the child without just cause for a period of six months shall constitute prima facie evidence of abandonment."

Confinement

Means the restriction of movement or confining a child to an enclosed area and/or using a threat of harm or intimidation to force a child to remain in a location or position.

Confinement is unreasonable if, taking into account the totality of the circumstances, the confinement is such that a reasonable (ordinarily cautious) parent, guardian or custodian would not use that method of confinement. The totality of the circumstances includes consideration of the child’s age, developmental and cognitive functioning and any special needs such as mental illness, behavioral health, physical limitations, and length of confinement.

Non-Sexual Exploitation

is defined for DCS purposes to mean "the use of a child by a parent, guardian or custodian for material gain which may include forcing the child to panhandle, steal or perform other illegal activities."

 

 

 

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