Jan Brewer calls special session over Arizona child welfare concerns
May 22, 2014, 10:15 AM | Updated: 10:33 am
PHOENIX — Gov. Jan Brewer has called for a special session in the Legislature to improve Arizona’s embattled child welfare agency.
The session will begin Tuesday. Legislators will be asked to approve a measure to create the Department of Child Safety, a replacement for the dissolved Child Protective Services. Brewer called CPS “broken” after it was discovered thousands of reports of child abuse went uninvestigated.
“We all agree our current system has been broken for decades, and we must not wait any longer to properly repair it,” Brewer said in a release. “We need to act now — our children cannot wait.”
Brewer originally said she would call the session in late April after at least five child welfare supervisors were fired following a four-month investigation.
In a statement, Brewer said the safety of Arizona children is one of her most important priorities and an issue that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. The report from the Arizona Department of Public Safety increased the urgency even more.
The five workers who were fired are mulling a lawsuit. The group told News/Talk 92.3 KTAR’s Rob & Karie they were nothing more than scapegoats.
KTAR’s Bob McClay contributed to this report.
