ARIZONA DEPARTMENT
OF CHILD SAFETY

FIVE YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN
SFY 2015-2019

Charles Flanagan
Director

Arizona Department of Child Safety
Janice K. Brewer
Governor

Charles Flanagan
Director

January 1, 2015

Dear Fellow Citizens of Arizona:
In January 2014, Governor Janice K. Brewer made the momentous decision to create a new stand-alone
cabinet agency to oversee child welfare. In May 2014, the Arizona State Legislature passed legislation
codifying that decision and establishing the Arizona Department of Child Safety.
I am pleased to provide you with the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) State Fiscal Year 20152019 Five-Year Strategic Plan. This plan takes the first steps in outlining our efforts to build this
Department and improve outcomes for children and families at risk in Arizona. We are currently in the
process of developing a more robust strategic plan.
This five year strategic plan outlines the issues, strategies, goals and performance measures the
Department has identified as critical to carrying out its mission. One of the chief strategies is to address
the crushing employee workload that contributes to the problems that have existed in Arizona's child
welfare system for decades. DCS also aims to improve the technology that is currently used so that
Child Safety Specialists can more efficiently deliver the work in the field and to preserve the integrity of
data. DCS will also improve the training that new Specialists receive so they are better prepared to
tackle the challenges that child abuse and neglect cases present.
We appreciate the leadership and support of Governor Brewer as well as the support of the Arizona
Legislature, the county courts, foster parents, services providers, volunteers and the community at large.
We also appreciate the hard work of the professional and dedicated employees of DCS. On behalf of the
Department, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to all of these individuals and groups for
serving Arizona's most vulnerable children and their families. It is my fervent belief that Arizona is up
to the challenge to finally make substantial change that will mean safer homes and communities for
children and families at risk.

1717 W. Jefferson  Site Code 005A  Phoenix, AZ 85007
Telephone (602) 542-5844

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………..1

Agency Description…………………………………………………….….……………3

The Department of Child Safety’s Vision and Mission ………………..……..……3

Strategic Issues, Strategies, Goals, Performance Measures
Strategic Issue One: Employee Workload………………….……………….……4
Strategic Issue Two: Providing the Workforce with Effective Tools…….……6
Strategic Issue Three: Integration of Operations with the Community………..8
Strategic Issue Four: Ensuring Permanency and Well-being ………………..…9

Resource Assumptions………………………………………………….….…………10

Department of Child Safety

Five Year Strategic Plan (2015-2019)

Executive Summary
Strategic Issues, Strategies, Goals, Performance Measures
Strategic Issue One: Employee Workload
Identifies caseload standards, need for more staff to achieve organizational stability and
findings of staff surveys.
Strategy: Increasing the staffing levels and addressing barriers to completing the agency's
workload.
Goal: Eliminate the backlog of inactive cases
Performance Measure One: The average monthly caseload will be reduced to the
Department’s caseload standard for each case type.
Performance Measure Two: All cases will be assigned to staff and receive action.
Goal: Worker retention
Performance Measure: The Department will measure achievement of this goal through
tracking of vacancy and turnover rates.
Strategic Issue Two: Providing the Workforce with Effective Tools
Identifies a need to replace individual judgment with the application of Department policy,
develop risk assessment tools, implement timely and thorough training and undergo
technological upgrades.
Strategy:
Emphasizes the development of standard processes, assessment tools for determining child
safety, training to embody procedures and create an improvement of overall efficiency with
the upgrades to CHILDS.
Goal: Establish training that is individualized and competency-based
Performance Measure: Completion of a Department training system.
Goal: Create a validated safety and risk assessment tool.
Performance Measure: The Department will measure achievement of this goal using the
forthcoming Federal Child and Family Service Review measure addressing the rate of
repeat reports.
Goal: To have an automated system that contributes to the efficiency of Department
operations and produces quality data and outcomes.
Performance Measure: This goal will initially be measured by the completion of the
Requirements Analysis document to be developed and written during the planning phase of
the CHILDS replacement.

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Strategic Issue Three: Integration of Operations with the Community
Work with the community in all areas, the need to adequately staff the Intake Bureau and the
need to communicate with the public regarding agency operations.
Strategy:
Improvements to the intake process of the Department's Child Abuse Reporting Hotline
and ensuring that the Department shares information with the public to ensure transparency
and accountability.
Goal: Improve the Department’s child abuse reporting Hotline intake process
Performance Measure: The percentage of calls answered within 60 seconds will be at
least 80 percent.
Performance Measure: The percentage of abandoned calls will be 8 percent or less.
Goal: Operate with transparency, accountability and open communication
Performance Measure: Consistent sharing of data and other information with the public
covering material such as Department operations, policies, processes and outcomes.
Strategic Issue Four: Ensuring Permanency and Well-being for the Children DCS Serves
Addresses the need provide adequate information and engage foster parents in decision making
Strategy:
Establish a solid Department commitment to improve communication with and
involvement of foster parents within the State of Arizona.
Goal: Meet the needs of children in out-of-home care and their foster or adoptive
families.
Performance Measure: This goal will be measured through the Department’s annual
foster and adoptive parent satisfaction survey, which will include several measures
covering the level of Department support of foster and adoptive families.

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Department of Child Safety

Five Year Strategic Plan (2015-2019)

AGENCY DESCRIPTION
The Department of Child Safety, (DCS) is Arizona’s state administered
child welfare services agency. DCS provides child abuse and neglect
investigations; child safety and risk assessments; family support
preservation, and reunification services; family foster care and kinship
care services; services to promote the safety, permanence, and well-being
of children with foster and adoptive families; adoption promotion and
support services; and health care services for children in out-of-home care.
DCS’s primary purpose is to protect children. To achieve this purpose, the
Department shall accomplish the following in equal priority.


Investigate reports of child abuse and neglect.



Assess, promote and support the safety of a child in a safe and
stable family or other appropriate placement.



Work cooperatively with law enforcement regarding reports that
include criminal conduct allegations.



Without compromising child safety, coordinate services to achieve
permanency on behalf of the child, strengthen the family and
provide prevention, intervention and treatment for abuse and
neglected children.

THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILD SAFETY’S VISION AND MISSION
The Department’s vision is: Keeping Arizona’s children safe through
timely and appropriate intervention, strong families, and engaged
communities.

THE
CREATION OF
THE

DEPARTMENT
OF CHILD
SAFETY
January 2014:
Governor Janice K.
Brewer abolishes
Child Protective
Services
May 2014:
Arizona Legislature
establishes the
Department of Child
Safety
July 2014:
The Department takes
significant steps
towards separation
from the Department
of Economic Security

The Department’s mission is: To ensure the safety of children, first and
foremost, to engage in prevention and early intervention services, to
preserve and unify families when the safety of the child is not at risk, to
remove and achieve permanency for children who have been harmed and
cannot be safely returned to their family.
The Department was established and received resources in May 2014.
These resources are the necessary inputs, essential to the success of this
strategic plan:


a new agency, separated from the Department of
Economic Security, whose Director reports to Arizona’s
Governor;
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Department of Child Safety




Five Year Strategic Plan (2015-2019)

a new organizational structure that gives heightened attention to prevention, the Intake
Bureau (Child Abuse Reporting Hotline), field investigations, Office of Child Welfare
Investigations (OCWI), permanency (ongoing case management) and inspections
(continuous quality improvement and quality assurance);
budget appropriations that:
o increased the total number of authorized DCS Specialist positions from 1,320 to
1,406;
o ensured that there is one Supervisor for every six DCS Specialists;
o allocated funds for overtime pay for employees who work on the backlog of
inactive cases; and
o included funding for services for children and families.

As a result of the Child Advocate Response Examination (CARE) Team report that was released in
early January 2014, the Department has identified nine strategic issues, with corresponding
strategies, goals, performance measures objectives and related benchmarks. These well-developed
strategies represent the interventions and activities that will be accomplished during SFY 2015
through SFY 2019. The Department expects that these initiatives will achieve the goals of greater
system capacity and enhanced service delivery, to improve the safety, permanency and well-being
outcomes for children in families.

STRATEGIC ISSUES, STRATEGIES, GOALS, PERFORMANCE MEASURES
STRATEGIC ISSUE ONE: EMPLOYEE WORKLOAD
Child Safety Specialists have been carrying caseloads well above the Department’s standards for
many years.
The Department’s caseload standard is:
 for investigations, 13 reports per month per Child Safety Specialist;
 for in-home services, working with 33 cases per month per Child Safety Specialist; and
 for out-of-home (foster care) services, working with 20 children per month per Child
Safety Specialist.
In January 2014, caseloads were 22 per cent above the standard. Focus groups and surveys of
Department staff and stakeholders repeatedly identified unmanageable caseloads as a primary
factor preventing a standard of practice that adheres to written policy and procedure. In addition to
new caseload standards, the Department has over 13,000 reports that have been open for more than
60 days with no activity. This backlog of inactive cases adds to the overall caseload and must be
addressed in order to reach the Department's caseload standards. Furthermore, employee surveys
identified a need for support staff to assist with tasks such as copying and mailing documents,
scheduling visits, completing forms and paperwork, and returning general phone calls thereby
reducing workload for DCS case management staff.
According to the CARE Team report, Eyes on Children, “the attrition of new employees is
approximately 25 to 30%, and there is a significant representation of employees whose tenure
reflects months not years.” High turnover contributes to the backlog of inactive cases and too high
caseloads, which in turn produce more employee turnover. Turnover among field staff is costly to
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Five Year Strategic Plan (2015-2019)

the agency and to families. The persistent need to hire and train new staff diverts agency resources
from direct services to families. The need to reassign cases due to staff attrition can lead to delays
in service provision and delays to permanency.
Strategy:
Increasing the size of the workforce, reducing caseloads, and decreasing per case workload are
expected to improve the Department’s capacity to meet the demand for services. Sufficient
capacity is necessary for organizational stability, which is a prerequisite for consistent process and
standard work. The Department anticipates that when Child Safety Specialists practice according
to the standards in Department policy and procedure, with effective and timely supervision;
children and families will experience various outcomes that include higher rates of timely initial
response to reports, more comprehensive safety and risk assessments, less intrusive safety plans,
greater involvement in case planning, more frequent higher quality parent-child visitation, and
more frequent higher quality contacts with their caseworkers. The long-range impact is expected
to include a reduced rate of repeat reports, reductions in the size of the out-of-home care
population without compromising child safety, more rapid success of safe and permanent
reunification, the timely achievement of adoption and increased child well-being.
The Department has selected interventions to improve recruitment and retention of staff based on
attrition data and employee input during the CARE Team’s evaluation.
Employee survey
responses revealed the need for better pay equity, modern technology and equipment, and
improved worker safety, and indicated that addressing these needs would improve retention. The
Department believes that improved recruitment and retention will reduce caseloads, which will
have the medium and long-range effects previously described. Furthermore, retention will
improve staff experience and skills, which will be particularly beneficial to the quality of
supervision.
Goal: Eliminate the Backlog of Inactive Cases
Performance Measure One: The average monthly caseload will be reduced to the Department’s
caseload standard for each case type.
Performance Measure Two: All cases will be assigned to staff and receive action.
Goal: Worker Retention
Performance Measure: The Department will measure achievement of this goal through tracking
of vacancy and turnover rates.

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Five Year Strategic Plan (2015-2019)

STRATEGIC ISSUE TWO: PROVIDING THE WORKFORCE WITH EFFECTIVE TOOLS
Training that is individualized and competency-based
The CARE Team found that critical decisions are “subject to the individual judgment of staff,” and
recommended that management “identify best practices that should be standard and implement
those best practices through development of standard work and continual training across the
organization.” The CARE Team evaluation also found that some training, such as supervisor
training, has not been provided on time and that annual in-service training is needed so that “all
field staff receives consistent and current instruction.” Input into the adequacy and design of
training was also obtained during well-attended staff forums. Suggestions from the training
forums have been incorporated into the training improvement plan.
Development of Practice Standards
The Failure Mode Effects Analysis conducted by the CARE Team found 142 total potential failure
points between a call arriving at the hotline and closing an investigation. To address these systemwide concerns, the CARE Team repeatedly recommended increased capacity and implementation
of standard processes that “identify the best current model of performing a task” to be promoted
throughout the organization.
Improved Technology
The agency currently has an automated system that is no longer effective in managing the current
agency Federal and State program reporting requirements, and its business operations. The CARE
Team identified a number of issues with the State’s system, known as Children’s Information
Library and Data Source (CHILDS) including the lack of remote access and mobile device
interface to assist the efficiency of field work and the difficulty of preserving the integrity of data.
In addition, the architecture of the system is over fifteen years old and is no longer flexible for
updates and enhancements needed for addressing strategic operations in areas such as reducing the
agency’s backlog of inactive cases and keeping up with newly acquired cases.
Strategy:
The Department of Child Safety believes that training is one of several essential interventions to
develop standard practice across the organization. Formation of an organization with sufficient
workforce and reasonable caseloads, training in current best practices, presence of high quality
supervision and sound quality assurance processes, will improve the consistency in all areas of
practice. When the Department reaches a state of consistent practice, it will be better able to
identify elements of current practice that are effective and those that are not, and continually adjust
practice standards to achieve the best safety, permanency and well-being outcomes. The
Department is particularly interested in evaluating the efficacy of the current safety and risk
assessment model in achieving child safety, and preventing repeat reports, repeat maltreatment and
re-entry into out-of-home care.
Several interventions have been identified by the Department to define and promote the best
method of responding to reports of abuse or neglect. Adherence to joint investigation protocols
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will improve the ability of law enforcement, the Office of Child Welfare Investigations (OCWI)
and Child Safety Specialists to conduct investigations that protect children, minimize trauma,
promote child well-being and allow for prosecution of criminal conduct.
The use of
Multidisciplinary Teams (MDTs) and active multidisciplinary collaboration are proven methods
that capitalize on expertise from a range of disciplines and perspectives to develop, implement and
continually improve processes to promote child safety and well-being. In addition, the Department
will resolve known inconsistencies in practice by identifying and promoting the best and current
models for prioritizing response to reports, identifying criminal conduct allegations that require a
joint investigation, and locating missing families and children.
A Family Assessment approach is being developed to respond to neglect and less severe physical
abuse reports with a family-centered non-confrontational assessment that engages families in
services to treat risks before they escalate to become safety threats. The Department expects that
these interventions will result in medium-range outcomes of reduced repeat reports, and reduced
entry and re-entry into out-of-home care.
SFY 2015 budget appropriations included funds for the planning phase of replacing the CHILDS
system. A needs assessment is underway to ensure the system is designed for maximum
flexibility, reliability and current technological standards, yet easy to use.

Goal: Establish Training that is Individualized and Competency-based
Performance Measure: Completion of a Department training system.
Goal: Create a validated safety and risk assessment tool.
Performance Measure: The Department will measure achievement of this goal using the
forthcoming Federal Child and Family Service Review measure addressing the rate of repeat
reports.
Goal: To have an automated system that contributes to the efficiency of Department
operations and produces quality data and outcomes.
Performance Measure: This goal will initially be measured by the completion of the
Requirements Analysis document to be developed and written during the planning phase of the
CHILDS replacement.

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Department of Child Safety

Five Year Strategic Plan (2015-2019)

STRATEGIC ISSUE THREE: INTEGRATION OF OPERATIONS WITH THE COMMUNITY
Working alongside the community includes positive interaction and solid customer service with
the various entities that assist in ensuring child safety within the State of Arizona. In addition to
the Department serving the public as a whole, the community includes those individuals that report
child abuse and neglect and private and faith-based social service agencies.
The Department’s Intake Bureau line (call center) is the starting point for all Department field
activity to achieve the mission of child safety. In order to assess child safety and risks, a referral
must be received at the Intake Bureau and correctly categorized as a report if it meets the statutory
criteria. The CARE Team evaluation found that the Intake Bureau does not have sufficient staff
capacity to meet the demand of incoming communication volume, and that “High abandoned call
rates, long wait times and the current interview design do not facilitate efficient collection of
information from the public.” The CARE Team concluded that “clear performance standards need
to be established and maintained.”
The CARE Team also concluded that the agency “must strive to establish maximum transparency
in its actions to recapture the trust of the public and create agency accountability.” Transparency
and public accountability will encourage stakeholders to engage in the agency’s improvement
efforts. Improvement will only be successful when there is meaningful collaboration with
stakeholders, such as parents, kin, youth, American Indian tribes, foster parents, law enforcement
agencies, the courts, the behavioral health system, prevention agencies, child advocates and the
state legislature.
Strategy:
The Department has identified intake strategies to standardize the collection and documentation of
information gathered by the Intake Bureau, including the design of an effective process and
implementation of a quality assurance review to monitor the consistency of decisions. The new
standard process will be a more efficient response to communications, which will reduce caller
wait time and the abandoned call rate. In addition, the anticipated automation enhancements will
allow Child Safety Specialists to provide additional information gathered during an open
investigation electronically instead of by phone. This information is necessary so that the Intake
Bureau retains complete documentation about all events or circumstances of abuse or neglect that
are known to the agency and have already been assessed or investigated, so that future
communications with the same information does not generate a new report and a second
investigation. This new process would improve efficiency for field and Intake Bureau employees,
and increase the likelihood that field staff will communicate the information to the Intake Bureau.
In addition, the Department will explore the possibility of partnerships with other organizations
that can serve community members seeking community resource information, thereby meeting the
customer’s need while reducing call volume at the Intake Bureau. As result of all of these
activities, more thorough and timely information will be collected from the public and forwarded
to field units, allowing a faster response to concerns and ultimately improving child safety.
The CARE Team evaluation found a lack of clear performance standards and that individual
judgment replaces standard process. Similar to high quality training, the Department believes that
transparency and accountability are essential interventions to develop standard practice across the
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Five Year Strategic Plan (2015-2019)

organization. When the entire organization is accountable to clearly defined best practice
standards and successful outcomes for children and families, the consistency of practice will
improve. When the Department reaches a state of consistent practice, it will be better able to
identify elements of the practice standard that are effective and those that are not, and continually
adjust practice standards to achieve the best outcomes.
Goal: Improve the Department’s Child Abuse Reporting Line Intake Process
Performance Measure: The percentage of calls answered within 60 seconds will be at least 80
percent.
Performance Measure: The percentage of abandoned calls will be 8 percent or less.
Goal: Operate with Transparency, Accountability and Open Communication
Performance Measure: Consistent sharing of data and other information with the public covering
material such as Department operations, policies, processes and outcomes.

STRATEGIC ISSUE FOUR: ENSURING PERMANENCY AND WELL-BEING FOR THE CHILDREN DCS
SERVES
The results of the CARE Team’s foster and adoptive parent survey indicated a need to improve the
adequacy of background information foster and adoptive parents are provided, and their
involvement in decision-making. Notification about hearings and case related meetings was also
identified as an area needing improvement.
Strategy:
The Department expects that improved communication and foster family involvement in decisionmaking will improve resource family retention and improve the families’ ability to meet the needs
of the children in their care, which will achieve child well-being outcomes in relation to education,
physical health and behavioral health. Furthermore, children whose physical and behavioral health
needs are being met are more likely to have positive permanency outcomes.
Goal: Meet the needs of children in out-of-home care and their foster or adoptive families.
Performance Measure: This goal will be measured through the Department’s annual foster and
adoptive parent satisfaction survey, which will include several measures covering the level of
Department support of foster and adoptive families.

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Department of Child Safety

Five Year Strategic Plan (2015-2019)

RESOURCE ASSUMPTIONS

FY 2017 Estimated
Full-Time Equivalent
Positions*

3,045.1

FY 2018 Estimated

3,045.1

FY 2019 Estimated

3,045.1

General Fund**

$416,294.6

$421,359.3

$442,427.2

Other Appropriated
Funds**

$159,000.4

$159,000.4

$ 159,000.4

Non- Appropriated
Funds**

$1,703.5

$1,703.5

$372,381.6

$375,250.6

Federal Funds**

$ 1,703.5

$ 394,013.2

*This category is counted in the thousands.
**This category is counted in the millions.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Program • Under Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI & VII), and the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and Title II of the
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) of2008; the Department prohibits discrimination in admissions, programs,
services, activities, or employment based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetics and retaliation. The
Department must make a reasonable accommodation to allow a person with a disability to take part in a program, service or activity. For
example, this means if necessary, the Department must provide sign language interpreters for people who are deaf, a wheelchair accessible
location, or enlarged print materials. It also means that the Department will take any other reasonable action that allows you to take part in
and understand a program or activity, including making reasonable changes to an activity. If you believe that you will not be able to
understand or take part in a program or activity because of your disability, please let us know of your disability needs in advance if at all
possible. To request this document in alternative format or for further information about this policy, contact your local office; TIY/TDD
Services: 7-1-1. • Free language assistance for department services is available upon request. • Disponible en espafiol en linea o en Ia oficina
local.

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