Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
DCFS reports fewer children in foster care but lawmakers press agency on initiation delays and staffing
Summary
Director Wright told the Senate Children and Youth Committee that Arkansas saw declines in foster care counts and steady closures but flagged a drop in timely investigation starts; legislators pressed DCFS on staffing, training and pay as drivers of the delay.
At a meeting of the Senate Children and Youth Committee, Director Wright of DCFS presented quarterly and calendar-year reports showing a decline in the number of children in foster care and progress on permanency, while acknowledging problems with timely initiation of maltreatment investigations.
Director Wright said Arkansas accepted 26,813 maltreatment reports in calendar 2023, with roughly 20,000 assigned to DCFS and 5,933 assigned to the Arkansas State Police. "This past calendar year we closed investigations timely at 80%," she said, while noting initiation — the point when a worker must see a child within 24 or 72 hours depending on priority — had slipped in some areas.
Major Geoff Drew of the Police Crimes Against Children Division gave a related quarterly hotline summary earlier in the meeting, reporting the statewide…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
