As lawmakers wrestle with a budget shortfall that grows ever closer
to $3 billion for the fiscal year that begins on July 1, agencies
across the state are still grappling with the impact of a $1.6 billion
budget fix that the Legislature passed in January to balance the
current year’s finances.
That collection of cuts gives a preview of what lies ahead if state
lawmakers can’t find a way to keep funding for a host of programs that
aid a range of Arizonans, from newborn children to aging seniors.
As Claire Conrad points out in the accompanying story, preventative
programs designed to help children and their families have been gutted
in recent weeks.
But that’s merely the tip of the spear. Liz Barker Alvarez, a
spokeswoman for the Arizona Department of Economic Security, says the
agency had to cut roughly 800 staff members as a result of the $103
million cut to DES in the January budget adjustment. (At the same time,
the agency needed an additional $50 million just to keep up with the
demand for services, essentially making the cut $153 million.)
The workers who remain must take a certain number of furlough days
off without pay, putting more stress on the reduced staff to deliver
services.
The layoffs included 159 investigators and case managers with Child
Protective Services, including 29 in Pima County. The cuts have brought
CPS staff levels down to the number who were working for the agency in
2004. That means that fewer reports of abuse can be investigated,
according to Barker Alvarez.
Meanwhile, more cuts may be on the way: In response to a request
from Gov. Jan Brewer, DES staffers drew up budgets showing the impact
of cuts from 5 to 20 percent in the upcoming budget year.
A 20 percent would mean “completely changing the face of human
services in Arizona,” says Barker Alvarez. “At that point, CPS would be
doing nothing but investigating abuse after it has occurred and
removing children when there’s an imminent risk of harm. There’s no
more prevention; there’s no more funding to try to work to keep
families together when it’s safe to do so.”
Even as the cuts are being made, the demand for services continues
to grow. For example, in February 2008, 44,557 Pima County households
were enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which
makes them eligible for food stamps. In February 2009, 56,033 families
were in the program, an increase of more than 25 percent.
More families are also turning to food banks to help stretch their
grocery budget, but those organizations are taking hits from the state,
too.
Ginny Hildebrand, executive director of the Association of Arizona
Food Banks, says that food banks across the state are seeing demand
grow by 40 to 50 percent, while the budget fix lowered state aid by
$160,000. Some of that was handled by trimming administrative costs,
but $70,000 came directly out of programs designed to buy food.
The headlines are filled with similar stories. Arizona school
districts have informed more than 5,000 teachers that they may not have
jobs next year. Many could get rehired if lawmakers and Gov. Jan Brewer
can agree on less-draconian spending cuts, but until they do, local
administrators can’t draw up their own budgets.
The universities, a popular target of GOP budget-cutters, are
planning new fees of at least $1,000 on top of tuition, which has
continued to grow every year.
And so it goes as lawmakers, now past the 100-day mark in the 2009
legislative session, continue to crunch the numbers.
Brewer has yet to produce her own budget plan, and is instead
waiting to see what the Legislature can produce. But she has warned
lawmakers that she won’t sign a budget that cuts more than a billion
dollars in spending.
Republican legislative leaders have been backing away from the deep
cuts that were initially proposed, partially because the state will
lose out on hundreds of millions in federal stimulus dollars if they
reduce state spending in certain areas.
Earlier this week, the GOP caucus released a plan to close the
budget gap that combined cuts in spending with federal stimulus dollars
and a grab at hundreds of millions of dollars in school, city and
county funds.
Democrats were skeptical that the GOP plan would work without
running into legal problems or costing the state stimulus dollars.
“It’s just more cuts to education and social services while they
raid the cities, counties and school districts,” says Rep. Steve Farley
of Tucson, a Democrat. “There’s nothing responsible about it at all.
There’s nothing that even makes sense about this budget.”
Jim Murphy, president and CEO of the Pima Council on Aging, says
that the original GOP budget proposal zeroed out the $17 million that
now pays for aging services throughout the state. Murphy says he
doesn’t believe that the final budget will be that brutal, but his
agency is already scrambling to provide programs for seniors as demand
grows.
Murphy’s agency absorbed two cuts from the city of Tucson and one
from Pima County this year, but the deepest slice from his budget came
courtesy of the state, which trimmed $416,000.
Murphy says reserve funds and some other conservative budgeting
moves have allowed his agency to keep providing services without any
layoffs, although there is now a waiting list for new clients.
Murphy says the typical PCOA client is an 80-year-old woman living
on Social Security who is trying to remain in her home rather than go
into assisted living. He says his agency, on average, helps delay that
transition for three years. Murphy reckons he’s saving the state a good
deal of money, since it costs roughly $250 to $300 a month to provide
home services—while it costs Pima County taxpayers $3,500 a month
for assisted living for qualified seniors. “We believe it’s the right
thing to do, but financially, it also makes a lot of sense,” Murphy
says. “If we don’t provide that service, they’re going to deteriorate
pretty quick.”
Murphy warns that any future cuts will mean that services—such
as helping elderly people who live on their own to bathe twice a week,
or enjoy an occasional hot meal—will have to be cut back.
“We’re at bare bones now,” Murphy says. “We can’t afford another
penny without affecting services.”
This article appears in Apr 30 – May 6, 2009.
Child Protective Services Is nothing but a parasitic bureaucracy and statistically speaking, children and the community as a whole would be much better off without CPS…
Some numbers you might be unaware of…
An Inconvenient Truth about Child Protective Services, Foster care, and the Child Protection “INDUSTRY”
Child Protective Services Does not protect children…
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even killed at the hands of CPS.
every parent should read the free handbook from
connecticut dcf watch…
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com
Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS
Perpetrators of Maltreatment
Physical Abuse CPS/Foster care 160, biological Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS/Foster care 112, biological Parents 13
Neglect CPS/Foster care 410, biological Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS/Foster care 14 biological Parents 12
Fatalities CPS/Foster care 6.4, biological Parents 1.5
Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per 100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a bunch of social workers.
THIS IS AMERICA’S HIDDEN HOLOCAUST
Currently Child Protective Services violates more constitutionally guaranteed liberties & civil rights on a daily basis then all other agencies combined, Including the National Security agency/Central intelligence agency wiretaping programs…
“It is the closest agency we have to the Gestapo in our society.”
-District Judge R. Darryl Mazur
“For every 1 child CPS helps they destroy 700 other families” — Montel Williams.
THE CORRUPT BUSINESS OF CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES
BY: Nancy Schaefer Senator, 50th District of Georgia
http://www.senatornancyschaefer.com/articl…
The Business of Child Stealing in Florida
http://www.nolanchart.com/article4132.html
This is Child Protection?
By Gregory A. Hession, J.D.
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summa…
Mercenary Motherhood: “Memoirs of a Babystealer.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-…
FOSTER CARE IS A 80 PERCENT FAILURE:. A Brief Analysis of the Casey Family Programs. Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study. By Richard Wexler
http://www.nccpr.org/reports/cfpanalysis.d…
http://www.nccpr.org/index_files/page0003.…
HOW THE WAR AGAINST CHILD ABUSE BECAME A WAR AGAINST CHILDREN
http://www.nccpr.org/issues/1.html
http://www.nccpr.org/reports/asfa.pdf
Adoption Bonuses: The Money Behind the Madness
DSS and affiliates rewarded for breaking up families
By Nev Moore Massachusetts News
http://www.massnews.com/past_issues/2000/5…
Ted Gunderson Speech to Congressional Hearing on Child Protection 3/13/04
http://educate-yourself.org/tg/childprotec…
Phoenix New Times
Outrageous Fortune
Private lawyers in Maricopa County child-dependency
cases are soaking us for unbelievable bucks
By Paul Rubin
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2007-04-19/…
When The State Becomes Parent by Mollie Martin.
http://www.ejfi.org/family/family-110.htm
A recent study has found that 12-18 months after leaving foster care:
30% of the nation’s homeless are former foster children.
27% of the males and 10% of the females had been incarcerated
33% were receiving public assistance
37% had not finished high school
2% receive a college degree
50% were unemployed
Children in foster care are three to six times more likely than children not in care to have emotional, behavioral and developmental problems, including conduct disorders, depression, difficulties in school and impaired social relationships. Some experts estimate that about 30% of the children in care have marked or severe emotional problems. Various studies have indicated that children and young people in foster care tend to have limited education and job skills, perform poorly in school compared to children who are not in foster care, lag behind in their education by at least one year, and have lower educational attainment than the general population.
*Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Support
80 percent of prison inmates have been through the foster care system.
The highest ranking federal official in charge of foster care, Wade Horn of the Department of Health and Human Services, is a former child psychologist who says the foster care system is a giant mess and should just be blown up.
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/FosterCare…
Four rigorous studies have found that at least 30 percent of America’s foster children could be home right now if their parents had decent housing.
These studies found thousands of children already in foster care who would have done better had child protection agencies not taken them away in the first place.
Read the studies online.
Front-page story in USA Today.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-0…
Casey “alumni” study: “Improving Family Foster Care: Findings from the Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study,”
http://www.casey.org/Resources/Publications/North…
MIT study: “Child Protection and Child Outcomes: Measuring the Effects of Foster Care,”
http://www.mit.edu/~jjdoyle/doyle_fosterlt_march0…
http://www.cftl.org/documents/2008/FCfullr…
Texas comptroller’s “Forgotten Children” reports:
http://www.window.state.tx.us/news/60623st…
http://www.window.state.tx.us/forgottenchildren
Chosen Children: how the Foster Care and Adoption industries fuels the Prison industry.
Billion Dollar Babies in America’s Foster Care, Adoption & Prison Systems by Lori Carangelo
http://www.thechosenchildren.com/
http://www.thechosenchildren.com/ebooks/ch…
Statistics of Adoption-2005 Edition-Compiled and edited by Lori Carangelo
http://www.amfor.net/statistics.html
The bottom line? – Child Protective Services and the Foster Care system for the most part turns out young adults that are nothing more than Walking Wreckage…
CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CONSTITUTIONALLY GUARANTEED LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS ON A DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WIRETAPPING PROGRAMS….
CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU’RE HOME SOON…
BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES (“MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.”) THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY ARE “FAMILY UNFRIENDLY” IN THE NEXT ELECTION…
“SAVE THE FAMILY AND YOU SAVE THE CHILD”
my company needed It 215 form 2015 some time ago and was informed about a great service that has lots of fillable forms . If others want It 215 form 2015 also , here’s a http://goo.gl/zbhjQF