DHS director briefs Senate panel on child-welfare reports; Garrett’s Law referrals and foster-care trends highlighted

Director Missha Martin, who leads the Division of Children and Family Services at the Arkansas Department of Human Services, presented multiple statutorily required reports to the Senate Children and Youth Committee, including overturned-investigation statistics, the Garrett’s Law referral summary and family-preservation and quarterly performance data.

Martin said the overturned-investigation exhibits (D1 and D2) cover July 2019–June 2020 and explained the data columns (hotline calls, accepted investigations, substantiated findings, appeals and overturned outcomes). She told the committee that, in the cited period, about 8.6% of appealed investigations were overturned and that overturned cases represent under 1% of total investigations in the reports she reviewed.

On Garrett’s Law (state fiscal year 2021, exhibit D4 with county-level detail in D3), Martin said the office received 1,619 referrals — roughly 20% higher than the prior year as presented — and…