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Arizona Special Session on New Child-Safety Agency Kicks Off

Child safety and the state's role in ensuring it is the topic of a special legislative session that begins at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Child safety and the state's role in ensuring it is the topic of a special legislative session that begins at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

 

Committees will then meet Wednesday, when the public can weigh in on a proposal to create the new Department of Child Safety, which would replace the functions of the former Child Protective Services.

 

Gov. Jan Brewer's blueprint calls for more caseworkers, criminal investigators and support staff to deal with reports of child abuse and neglect that overload the state's hotline: an average of 942 reports a week, according to Brewer's office.

 

In all, Brewer wants nearly $60 million to fund the agency through the next budget year.

Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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