Gov. Jan Brewer recently signed into law the first bill of the 2013 legislative session — an emergency appropriation measure that will allow the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) to immediately hire 50 new full-time employees within Child Protective Services (CPS).
In 2012, CPS hired and trained 459 new caseworkers. The agency also partnered with Arizona State to evaluate and update its training opportunities for new and ongoing staff and supervisors.
Based on the agency’s appropriation, CPS is currently fully-staffed. Brewer’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2014 calls for an additional 150 CPS caseworkers and support staff, as well as added funding for adoption services, foster care, emergency placement and other resources for Arizona children at-risk.
