Arizona DCS Working To Minimize Unnecessary Child Removals

By Casey Kuhn
Published: Tuesday, December 12, 2017 - 12:46pm
Updated: Tuesday, December 12, 2017 - 1:11pm
(Photo by Casey Kuhn - KJZZ)
DCS Director Greg McKay and Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery address the press Tuesday.

Arizona’s Department of Child Services (DCS) still contends with tens of thousands of calls and investigations monthly.

DCS Director Greg McKay said the agency is working on a tool to spot red flags and identifiers to determine when an investigation is not needed. This comes after a record number of children have gone into the foster care system.

McKay said the agency has beefed up its response to the child services hotline, but wants to try and keep removals to a minimum.

“We want to make sure we put as many things in place, with the in-home services and the decisions to strengthen families and, if possible, keep kids in-home and not remove them unnecessarily,” McKay said.

There are 15,700 kids in Arizona foster care currently.