PHOENIX (AP) - Arizona’s Department of Child Safety says it’s putting together a team to explore whether investigators should have to get a court order before removing children from unsafe homes.
The department says that including a judge early in the process helps protect caseworkers as they make major decisions, while also protecting parents’ rights.
Maricopa County presiding juvenile Judge Colleen McNally said in a news release that the court has a responsibility to protect parents’ rights and to determine the safety of children.
The Department of Child Safety was created after the former Child Protective Services was disbanded following the November 2013 discovery that thousands of hotline calls were labeled as not worthy of being investigated.
The department says the latest effort is part of an ongoing project to improve children’s protection.
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