Three hundred eighty-five children have been removed from Arizona homes that were the subject of ignored complaints about abuse or neglect. At least 316 children have been removed from homes that were the subject of a report to a Child Protective Services hotline that went uninvestigated. Those removals came after a subsequent abuse complaint. Sixty-nine children have been removed since the problem of ignored cases was discovered.
That is the latest update from the independent team Gov. Jan Brewer appointed to investigate the problem. The so-called CARE Team said about 90 percent of the ignored cases have been assigned to a caseworker as of late Tuesday. More than 3,600 have been investigated in person.
In her State of the State speech Monday, Brewer called on the legislature to make the division charged with child safety a standalone agency.