Two child advocacy groups and a Phoenix-based law firm filed a lawsuit in federal court today against the leaders of the Arizona Department of Child Safety and the Department of Health Services.
Plaintiffs in the Beth K. v Flanagan suit are 10 children who allege the agencies failed to address “known deficiencies” in the state foster care system.
Anne Ronan is an attorney with the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest. She said while state officials have been working to address a backlog of abuse allegations, kids in the child welfare system still face a shortage of health care services and a lack of foster homes.
"The services for those children on removal have not increased," said Ronan. "The services for their families to prevent removal have not gone up anywhere near corresponding to the increase in removals, and we don’t see any end to it."
In a statement, a state spokesman said Governor Doug Ducey is reviewing the filing and takes the safety and well-being of foster care children very seriously.
