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Governor Jan Brewer says she has signed an executive order that “abolishes [Child Protective Services] as we know it.”
Brewer made the announcement Monday afternoon in her final State of the State speech.
See also:
–Ignored CPS Cases: More Than 100 Required an Immediate Response
Brewer said the order establishes a new Division of Child Safety and Family Services, and Charles Flanagan — the head of the state’s Department of Juvenile Corrections — will be its new director.
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Since CPS was part of the Department of Economic Security, DES director Clarence Carter was at the top of CPS when it was discovered that thousands of allegations of child abuse and neglect had simply been ignored for several years now.
Flanagan, on the other hand, already had been tasked with cleaning up the CPS mess last month. Brewer created something called a “CARE Team” to deal with the 6,500-plus shelved cases, and she made Flanagan the head of it.
Brewer said it’s up to the Legislature to make the new Division of Child Safety and Family Services a permanent agency.
UPDATE January 14: Here’s Brewer’s executive order:
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Follow Matthew Hendley on Twitter at @MatthewHendley.
