Every professional caseworker knows better than to blame individuals when the system breaks down. We leave that futile exercise to the politicians and the media. We know that most governmental family service organizations are woefully over mandated, under staffed, and inadequately budgeted. 

ARIZONA CPS: On Thursday, May 29, 2014 Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law two bills that created and funded a new child welfare agency, now known as the Department of Child Safety. "It is a momentous day for Arizona, as we take the boldest and most meaningful step in state history to reform and replace our problem-plagued child welfare system," Brewer said. 

THE PROBLEM: 

• The child welfare agency admitted failing to investigate 6,000 cases of suspected child abuse since 2009. 
• Thousands of pages of confidential records on abused and neglected children were found dumped in a Phoenix alley. 
• 15,000 children state-wide were in out-of-home care. 
• 67 Arizona children had died from maltreatment even though they were known to CPS. 
• CPS had 10,000 inactive cases (in the system for 60 days with no updates or documentation.) 
• Funding shortages had changed the role of CPS from being there mostly to help, to being there mostly to hold people accountable. 

Although Brewer did replace the director of the old CPS, neither the politicians nor the media looked to place further blame on the overwhelmed caseworkers. Rather, they miraculously faced the real problems. 

THE SOLUTION: Gov. Brewer created a new agency with the following mandates. 

• Change the way child welfare seeks to help rather than hold accountable. 
• See the people who work for the new Department of Child Safety as the most valuable asset and strive to enable them to relate to families. 
• Boost the number of caseworkers to reduce the strain on staff. 
• Use new software to identify the different risk levels a child may face and then use that information to shape an appropriate response. 
• No more one size fits all software solutions. 
• Find the balance between child safety and family preservation. 
• Ensure a manageable workload. 
• Encourage strong support from supervisors. 
• Utilize the most up-to-date technology. 
• Establish thorough training programs. 
• Give the director the authority and the budget to make the department more efficient. 

Finally, Governor Brewer conceded the deep cuts her administration made to the child-welfare budget at the start of the recession contributed to the increase in child abuse and neglect reports. Services were cut, and more than 100 caseworkers were laid off in a single day. "We probably are to blame," she said.