House government committee opens sustained oversight of Department of Child Safety

Chairman Blackman opened the meeting of the Arizona House Committee on Government with a public statement saying recent committee hearings into the Department of Child Safety revealed "breakdowns in communication, gaps in child placement oversight, delays in response time, and serious concerns surrounding child safety outcomes." He told members the committee would not accept "surface level answers or incomplete solutions" and announced a sustained effort to demand measurable corrective action from the department.

Blackman said the committee has begun drafting legislation to address transparency, independent oversight, kinship placement, group‑home reforms and workforce supports and insisted those statutory changes must be accompanied by clear execution plans: "Moving forward, this continue will continue to require that the Department of Child Safety to provide clear, corrective, and collective action plans measurable by benchmarks and regular progress reports." He framed the oversight as a moral imperative, saying, "When government fails in its duty to protect children, it's not just policy, it's a moral failure."

Committee members pressed staff and one member entered an e‑mail and related materials into the public record, saying the Attorney General's office "acknowledge[s] they understand there's bridal trafficking going on from the congregate care homes" and describing active case files. A committee member recommended that children who are victims of trafficking have separate legal representation, arguing the state cannot both defend an agency and represent child victims in the same matter.

Blackman told members he would consult with the bill sponsors and the attorney general's office about confidential or privileged material and said the committee would move bills so they could be amended and refined through follow‑up work. He urged the Department of Child Safety to produce timelines and regular evaluations that the committee can use to measure improvement.

The committee did not take formal action on DCS policy at this session beyond entering material into the record and flagging legislative proposals for future consideration. The hearing then moved on to other bills on the agenda.