Arizona Child Neglect Laws & DCS - Saving Grace Advocates

The Arizona Department of Child Safety, formerly known as Child Protective Services, has terrorized families for decades. The agency has repeatedly placed children in foster homes known to house sex offenders, ignored police reports regarding the residences of children in the foster system, and ignored potentially legitimate reports of child abuse and neglect made to the agency. DCS should be charged according to Arizona child neglect laws.

Arizona Child Neglect Laws

The legal definition of child neglect, according to Arizona state law, is “the inability or unwillingness of a parent, guardian, or custodian of a child to provide that child with supervision, food, clothing, shelter or medical care if that inability or unwillingness causes an unreasonable risk of harm to the child’s health or welfare.”

Additionally, Arizona child neglect laws continue to state that child neglect includes letting children around any vehicles or structures where dangerous chemicals or drugs are kept, or even around equipment used to make dangerous chemicals or drugs. Arizona law stipulates that child neglect also includes any type of sexual contact. Furthermore, pretty much everyone who works with kids is, per Arizona law, a mandatory reporter of child neglect, abandonment, or abuse.

By these definitions, DCS is guilty on who knows how many counts of child neglect. Foster children have been abused, tortured, sex-trafficked – even disappeared. Thousands of children in the Arizona DCS system are still missing today. How does a state agency tasked with protecting children continually allow these things to happen, if not on purpose? How is this entity still getting away with all this?

Violating Arizona Child Neglect Laws

Arizona child neglect laws carry four levels of charges, starting at the minimal penalty, and increasing to Negligent, Reckless, then Intentional at the highest charge. The minimum penalty in Arizona for Child Abandonment or Neglect is classified as a Class 1 misdemeanor, and is punishable by up to six months in prison, with three years probation and a $2,500 fine. Negligent Child Abandonment or Neglect is a Class 4 felony with a minimum prison term of one year. Reckless Child Abandonment or Neglect is a Class 3 felony with a minimum prison term of two years. Intentional Child Abandonment or Neglect is a Class 2 felony with a minimum prison term of four years.

The Arizona Department of Child Safety has placed children too young even for kindergarten in the care of unvetted foster parents who pocketed the money, then starved, imprisoned, raped, and disfigured them. Many of these children were better off before DCS got involved. For too long, DCS has been acting as though Arizona child neglect laws do not apply to them, and DCS has evaded any serious consequences of their child-endangering actions.

The Case of Ana Loera

Take for instance, the case of young Ana Loera. She’s just one of the children who died in the care of her Arizona foster parents in 2017. She was 10 years old. Furthermore, no one knew about it until 2020 when her adoptive father set the house on fire.

Ana’s bones were found in the foster attic by authorities who were there only to investigate the fire. Arizona DCS had not even bothered to make physical contact with Ana for over two years. If the foster parents told someone, they wouldn’t get any of the monthly subsidy checks DCS may send their way.

In 2020, the Arizona Department of Child Safety sent out more than $278 million in adoption subsidies. Who knows how many of those children are even alive? DCS sure as Hell won’t check on them. The agency is supposed to provide safer homes and brighter futures for every child in their care. However, they don’t even bother to follow basic Arizona child neglect laws.

Playing By Their Own Rules

Furthermore, DCS has officially placed the names of individuals on their Central Registry of child abusers without any kind of due process. Just this April, the New Civil Liberties Alliance filed a lawsuit with Arizona’s Court of Appeals. Their goal? To challenge one Arizona court’s decision to allow DCS “to overrule factual findings and credibility determinations made by an independent administrative law judge.”

The third-party administrative law judge found no conclusive evidence to substantiate Arizona DCS’s accusations of alleged child abuse against one Phillip B. However, Arizona is a systemically corrupt place. Arizona state law allowed DCS to appeal the third-party judge’s decision – to the DCS director!

Think about it like this. You stab someone, a court finds you guilty, then you retry your own murder case with yourself as the judge. Then you say, “Nope, it turns out I’m totally innocent!” It’s almost like the Arizona legal system was set up to protect the government from any challenges or consequences of any kind. Is it really a surprise to anyone? After all, that’s how corruption works.

NCLA litigation counselor Adi Dynar commented on the case, “DCS made the unbelievable statement that it can achieve its mission of protecting children only if no state court interferes with DCS’s antics.”

Further Allegations

This lends more credibility to the increasing number of allegations that DCS has been falsifying reports of child abuse and neglect, in order to remove any child they want from anyone in the entire state! Why? Parents and guardians allege that DCS is legally abducting their children so they can sell them into sex trafficking! If that’s not against Arizona child neglect laws, what is?

There are also allegations that the courts and lawyers in Arizona are in on it! Even Arizona state senator David Farnsworth has publicly stated his belief that Arizona DCS is trafficking children into other states with the cooperation of other state CPS agencies. Senator Farnsworth has also been keeping track of how many thousands of children in the DCS system are missing. He may be the only politician in Arizona who’s even looked into this thing.

Making The Tough Decisions

Who decided that DCS is immune to Arizona child neglect laws? Additionally, who decided that government agencies have free reign to do whatever they want to whomever they want? Finally, who decided that these children do not deserve the same rights as the rest of us?

We, as a community, need to come together to put an end to Arizona DCS – not just change the name, or overhaul the director – we need to effect real change that will ensure complete transparency and strict accountability of every action and inaction of whatever child welfare agency is in power. We need to save our children.

Help Us Fight the Good Fight

Costs to document this historical government tragedy have been excessive. However, they are far from over. Our personal expenses to fight the powers that continue to victimize our children and their families have exceeded over $1,000,000. They continue to grow by the day. In order to save face, the state of Arizona continues to blame the victims of corruption. They do so at great damage to their reputations and credibility.

Any contribution you can make to aid our cause is most appreciated. You can donate to Saving Grace Advocates using the link provided. Please help us fight Arizona CPS corruption and bring justice to the families and children who have suffered at their hands. Thank you for your continued support and contributions.

Sincerely,

Saving Grace Advocates

Arizona Child Neglect Laws Mean Nothing to DCS