ARIZONA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY AND HUMAN SERVICES AND HOUSE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE
Minutes of the Meeting
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Members Present:
|
Senator Linda Gray, Co-Chair |
Representative Heather Carter, Co-Chair |
|
Senator Nancy Barto |
Representative Cecil Ash |
|
Senator Rich Crandall |
Representative Kate Brophy McGee |
|
Senator Leah Landrum Taylor |
Representative Matt Heinz |
|
Senator Linda Lopez |
Representative Katie Hobbs |
Staff:
|
Amber O'Dell, Senate Research Analyst |
|
|
Ingrid Garvey, House Research Analyst |
|
Chairman Gray called the meeting to order at 1:03 p.m. and attendance was noted.
Performance Audits of Child Protective Services - Contractor Payments, Relative Placement and Congregate Care
Catherine Dahlquist, Performance Auditor, Office of the Auditor General (OAG), distributed the OAG's report (Attachment A) on the Department of Economic Security Division of Children, Youth and Families Child Protective Services. She distributed a hard copy of her Powerpoint presentation (Attachment B) and discussed the OAG's findings and recommendations.
Daniel Hunt, Financial Auditor, OAG, answered questions posed by the committee.
Clarence Carter, Director, Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES), explained the steps DES is taking to implement the OAG's recommendations and answered questions posed by the committee.
Veronica Bossack, Division of Children, Youth and Families, DES, answered questions posed by the committee.
Public Testimony
Kristin McLane, representing herself, discussed family placement, caseworkers and rules.
Dana Naimark, President/CEO, Children's Action Alliance, distributed a letter from the Children's Action Alliance to the Director of DES (Attachment C) and discussed the problems within Child Protective Services (CPS).
Brenda Gloria, representing herself, described her family's situation in relation to CPS.
Christine Scarpati, CEO, Child Crisis Center, discussed the Center and its relationship with CPS.
Suzanne Schunk, Director, Family Support Services, representing herself, discussed the job of CPS workers and the placement practices.
Mike Durham, 2nd Spoken Voice, discussed a specific case and the problems associated with CPS.
Attached is a list noting the individuals who registered their position on the item on the agenda (Attachment D).
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 2:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Shelley Ponce
Committee Secretary
(Audio recordings and attachments are on file in the Secretary of the Senate’s Office/Resource Center, Room 115. Audio archives are available at http://www.azleg.gov)
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SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY AND HUMAN SERVICES
AND HOUSE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE
October 20, 2011
Page 1
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