Title 8 — Child Safety

A. The department of child safety is established. B. The primary purpose of the department is to protect children. To achieve this purpose, the department shall do and focus equally on the following: 1. Investigate reports of abuse and neglect. 2. Assess, promote and support the …

A. The governor shall appoint the director of the department pursuant to section 38-211. The director serves at the pleasure of the governor. B. At a minimum, the director shall have: 1. Administrative experience in the protection of children from maltreatment and in family suppo…

A. The director shall: 1. Carry out the purposes of the department prescribed in section 8-451. 2. Provide transparency by being open and accountable to the public for the actions of the department. 3. Develop a data system that enables persons and entities that are charged with …

A. The director shall organize the department to best implement the following functions: 1. Receiving, analyzing and efficiently responding to reports of possible abuse or neglect as provided in section 8-455. 2. Appropriately investigating the reports whether or not they involve…

A. The department shall operate and maintain a centralized intake hotline to protect children by receiving at all times communications concerning suspected abuse or neglect. If a person communicates suspected abuse or neglect to a department employee other than through the hotlin…

A. The department shall train all investigators in forensic interviewing and processes and the protocols established pursuant to section 8-817. The training must include: 1. An evidence-informed safety assessment model to assess the safety of a child. 2. The duty to protect the l…

A. The department may arrange, provide and coordinate programs and services that protect children and may provide programs and services that achieve and maintain permanency on behalf of the child, strengthen the family and provide prevention, intervention and treatment for abused…

A. The director shall establish an inspections bureau to do both of the following: 1. Ensure that department policies and procedures are being followed by all staff in accordance with federal and state law. 2. Promptly notify the director of department actions that constitute a s…

A. The community advisory committee is established to provide a community forum: 1. To inform the department, analyze current law and policy and make recommendations to improve the ability of the department to increase the safety of children, respond to child maltreatment and ens…

A. The director may acquire for and in the name of this state by gift, grant, lease, lease-purchase agreement or otherwise lands or buildings for the purpose of providing office space for the department at places the director finds necessary and suitable, but land or a building m…

A. If a recipient of public assistance has a person who is legally responsible for that person's support and who is presently able to reimburse the department for public assistance provided, the department, through the attorney general or county attorney, shall proceed in the fol…

A. Notwithstanding any other provision in this title, the department may provide special housing assistance in the form of vendor payments to achieve permanency for children who are involved in open child safety services cases. The child's family may qualify for this special hous…

A. Each employee of the department who has contact with children or who is employed in an information technology position shall have a valid fingerprint clearance card issued pursuant to section 41-1758.07 or provide to the department documentation of the person's application for…

A. Notwithstanding any other law, if the department is required to provide an administrative order, a notice or a letter to an applicant, a recipient or a client, the department may send the administrative order, notice or letter by electronic means if the party being served or n…

A. The auditor general shall establish an audit team to be located in the department of child safety to provide ongoing performance reviews and analyses. B. Pursuant to an audit plan adopted after review by the joint legislative audit committee, the audit team may: 1. Determine t…

A. To be considered for funding from the child and family advocacy center fund established by section 41-191.11, a child and family advocacy center must be a private, nonprofit incorporated agency or a governmental entity that either: 1. Is accredited by a national organization t…

B. The child welfare licensing fee fund is established consisting of all fees collected pursuant to subsection A of this section and monies appropriated by the legislature. The department shall administer the fund. Monies in the fund are both of the following: 1. Subject to legis…

B. If a child is already receiving benefits before entering the department's care or if the department applies for benefits on behalf of the child, the department shall identify, in consultation with the child and the child's attorney, a representative payee in accordance with 20…

1. Hold regular multidisciplinary team meetings to review reports of child fatalities or near fatalities where the department had prior involvement with the child, the child's family or the perpetrator. 2. Identify systemic trends that influence decisions and actions made by the …

[Repealed or reserved.]

A. The department shall establish a foster youth permanency pilot project team. The foster youth permanency pilot project team shall: 1. Develop a methodology to identify children who are believed to be at risk of exiting the department's custody without a permanency placement. 2…

A. The director shall establish the office of child welfare investigations within the department. The director is responsible for the direction, operation and control of the office. B. The duties of the office include investigating criminal conduct allegations, coordinating with …

A. The healthy families program is established in the department. The program shall provide services to children under five years of age and members of their families that are designed to prevent child abuse or neglect and to promote child development and wellness. The program al…

1. "Child developmental certified home" means a regular foster home that is licensed pursuant to section 8-509 and that is certified by the department of economic security pursuant to section 36-593.01. 2. "Child welfare agency" or "agency": (a) Means: (i) Any agency or instituti…

A. Unless otherwise provided by law and except as provided in subsection E, F or G of this section, all personal information concerning a foster parent applicant or licensee or an individual who applies for or receives a child welfare agency license is confidential and may not be…

A. The division shall: 1. Exercise supervision over all child welfare agencies. 2. Advise and cooperate with the governing boards of all child welfare agencies. 3. Assist the staffs of all child welfare agencies by giving advice on progressive methods and procedures of child care…

A. The division shall establish a children and family services training program fund consisting of monies received pursuant to section 8-807. Subject to legislative appropriation, the fund monies shall be used to administer a children and family services training program for the …

A. The division shall visit each child welfare agency and foster home and inspect the premises used for care of children for sanitation, fire and other actual and potential hazards. The division shall take action it deems necessary to carry out the duties imposed by this section …

A. The issuance of initial and renewal licenses for child welfare agencies shall be made by the division. B. A child welfare agency shall not receive any child for care or maintenance or for placement in a foster home unless the agency is licensed by the division. Application for…

A. The division may deny the application or suspend or revoke the license of any foster home for wilful violation of any provision of this article or failure to maintain the standards of the care prescribed by the division. Written notice of the grounds of the suspension or the p…

The division may deny the application or suspend or revoke the license of any child welfare agency for the wilful violation of any provision of this article or for failure to maintain the standards of the care prescribed by the division. Written notice of the grounds of the suspe…

A. When the division has reason to believe that an agency or foster home is being conducted or maintained without a license, it shall make an investigation, and, if necessary, the division shall take action to prevent such continued operation. B. If an agency provides treatment o…

Before issuing a charter for the incorporation of any organization for the purpose of receiving children for care or for placement in foster homes, the corporation commission shall transmit a copy of the petition for incorporation, together with all information in its possession …

A. The department shall license and certify foster homes. Licenses are valid for a period of two years. B. The department shall not issue a license without satisfactory proof that the foster parent or parents have completed six actual hours of approved initial foster parent train…

A. The department may not refuse to license a foster home based on a prospective foster parent's blindness, if the foster home otherwise qualifies for licensure. B. If a prospective foster parent's blindness is alleged to have a detrimental impact on the operation of the foster h…

A. The department shall establish the minimum number of licensed foster homes that are required throughout this state and within regions that are designated by the department. The minimum number of available licensed foster homes shall be sufficient to place a child in a licensed…

A. A licensed child welfare agency may accept any child of a class, age and sex specified in its license, from the child's parent, guardian or relative, or a child which is lawfully committed thereto, and shall care for and control the child until discharged to its parent, relati…

A. Except as prescribed in subsection B, if circumstances require a foster parent to leave a foster child in the care of another person, the foster parent shall: 1. Use reasonable judgment in the foster parent's choice of an adult to provide the care. 2. Notify the department cas…

A. The department shall provide comprehensive medical and dental care, including behavioral health services, as prescribed by rules of the department, for each child who is: 1. In a voluntary placement pursuant to section 8-806. 2. In the custody of the department in an out-of-ho…

B. If the out-of-home placement of a dependent child who is in the legal custody of the department of child safety or the adoptive parent of a child who is eligible under title XIX or XXI of the social security act identifies an urgent need for the child to receive behavioral hea…

1. Monies paid by the Arizona health care cost containment system administration pursuant to the contract. 2. Amounts paid by third-party payors. 3. Gifts, donations and grants from any source. 4. Interest on monies deposited in the comprehensive health plan expenditure authority…

A. A child may participate in activities and functions generally accepted as usual and normal for children of the child's age group if permission is granted as follows: 1. If the activity by law requires a license, the agency or division that placed the child may give permission …

A. Subject to the provisions of section 8-514.01, the division or a licensed child welfare agency if so authorized in its license may place a child in a licensed foster home for care or for adoption. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the division or a licensed child welfar…

A. All foster placements of children with developmental disabilities made by the division shall be made to child developmental homes for children with developmental disabilities that are operated or licensed by the department of economic security pursuant to title 36, chapter 5.1…

A. The department may place a child with a parent, a relative or a person who has a significant relationship with a child. B. During an emergency situation when a child must be placed, the department shall not place a child with a relative or a person who has a significant relati…

A. The department shall establish kinship foster care services for a child who has been removed from the child's home and who is in the custody of the department. The program shall promote the placement of the child with the child's relative or a person with a significant relatio…

A. The kinship care program is established in the department. The program shall: 1. Streamline, expedite and coordinate existing services and referrals. 2. Preserve families. 3. Meet the protection, developmental, cultural and permanency needs of children. 4. Enable families to s…

1. Medical records. 2. Behavioral health records. 3. Information relating to the child's condition and treatment. 4. The child's prescription and nonprescription drugs, medications, durable medical equipment, devices and related information. B. If a health plan, a health care pro…

A. If a child who is in the custody of the department and who is at least sixteen years of age is placed in out-of-home placement, the out-of-home placement provider: 1. Within sixty days after placement, shall obtain and provide the child access to the documents if the out-of-ho…

A. If a child is taken into temporary custody, as part of the ongoing search, the department shall use due diligence in an initial search to identify and notify adult relatives of the child and persons with a significant relationship with the child within thirty days after the ch…