Child Protective Services Community Forum Tonight in Phoenix

The state legislators who serve on the Child Protective Services Oversight Committee will take suggestions from the public tonight at a forum in Phoenix.The Children's Action Alliance and about a dozen other groups are hosting the forum, which is billed as an opportunity "for community members to share suggestions and...

By Matthew Hendley

December 3, 2013

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The state legislators who serve on the Child Protective Services Oversight Committee will take suggestions from the public tonight at a forum in Phoenix.

The Children's Action Alliance and about a dozen other groups are hosting the forum, which is billed as an opportunity "for community members to share suggestions and ideas for protecting children from abuse and neglect."

See also:
-Jan Brewer Promises "Transparent and Independent Oversight" of Ignored CPS Cases

Before a few weeks ago, when it was revealed that 6,000 allegations to the CPS hotline weren't investigated, CPS still wasn't a well-oiled machine.

Thanks to high load for caseworkers, the Children's Action Alliance already has been sounding off about 10,000 other cases that haven't seen action in months. With the discovery that another 6,000 hotline calls never got investigated at all, there's certainly been an increase in attention toward the shortcomings at CPS.

According to an advertisement for tonight's forum -- which runs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Memorial Hall, at Steele Indian School Park -- this isn't a chance to talk about individual cases.

Also, "The forum will not address past or current issues in the Department of Economic Security, but will focus only on ideas for the future."

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Follow Matthew Hendley on Twitter at @MatthewHendley.

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