Valley mom shares experience with foster parents in child molestation case

A Valley mom spoke with ABC15 about her experience with George and Leslie Little, the Gilbert foster parents at the center of a child molestation case.

The mom, who didn't want to use her name, says she placed her two daughters in foster care two years ago in order to keep them safe.

More >> Valley mom shares experience with foster parents in child molestation case

PD: Foster dad in Gilbert arrested for child molestation

A foster dad has been arrested in Gilbert for child molestation, police say, and his wife spoke exclusively to Arizona's Family.

More >> PD: Foster dad in Gilbert arrested for child molestation

Arizona Summer Camp Turns Away Trans Foster Child

A 9-year-old transgender foster child was barred from attending Tonto Creek Camp in Payson, Ariz., even after he was awarded a scholarship to attend, according to Arizona TV station KNXV.

The child’s foster mother, Amber Checky, was told that her son’s registration was pulled because the camp had no staff with the training to accommodate trans kids.

More >> Arizona Summer Camp Turns Away Trans Foster Child

The system took these parents' kids away. Now they're helping other parents get theirs back

When Jovani Trevino and his wife walked into the Durango Juvenile Court in January, they had no idea what to expect.

Their kids had been removed by the state Department of Child Safety, they were told they had already missed important court dates, and they didn't know what would happen next.

More >> The system took these parents' kids away. Now they're helping other parents get theirs back

Parents honored for reunification with kids who were in foster care

Being in the foster care system can be hard on kids, and it’s often heartbreaking for their parents who made some mistakes and ended up losing custody.

Saturday, Maricopa County honored parents who worked hard to fix their mistakes so they could be with their kids.

More >> Parents honored for reunification with kids who were in foster care

• Maricopa County honors biological parents of foster kids

Arizona's voluntary child removals use method challenged in other states

Let your children go live with a relative or family friend for a while or risk the state taking more dire action.

That choice has been offered to some of Arizona’s parents and caregivers over the last two years when Arizona’s Department of Child Safety caseworkers suspect a child is in danger of harm.

More >> Arizona's voluntary child removals use method challenged in other states

'I have no confidence in DCS': State legislator questions DCS, judicial system after privacy ruling

A state legislator said late Tuesday that a judge’s ruling stating she violated court confidentiality laws contains “an egregious misrepresentation of the facts,” raising questions about whether the state Department of Child Safety and justice system treat families fairly.

Maricopa County Juvenile Court Presiding Judge Timothy J. Ryan ruled Tuesday that Townsend and an Arizona Republic reporter at a March 7 hearing violated confidentiality rules "by holding a press conference outside of the court room that same day."

More >> 'I have no confidence in DCS': State legislator questions DCS, judicial system after privacy ruling

Case of Chandler family with feverish toddler tests the future of public scrutiny on DCS court hearings

A child-welfare case put national attention on a family whose children were taken by the Arizona Department of Child Safety after police with guns drawn raided their house to check on a feverish toddler.

But their hearings in Juvenile Court raised questions far beyond the police raid. In a seemingly unprecedented move, a judge first removed a reporter and a state legislator from an open court hearing, then barred another reporter from publishing news about the case, then moved to walk back those restrictions after media attorneys intervened.

On Tuesday, Maricopa County Juvenile Court Presiding Judge Timothy J. Ryan issued a new set of directions that raised further questions.

More >> Case of Chandler family with feverish toddler tests the future of public scrutiny on DCS court hearings

Valley foster parent arrested, facing multiple counts of sexual abuse

A foster parent well known in the foster community is currently at the Lower Buckeye Jail facing seven counts of sexual abuse, sexual misconduct, and attempted sexual abuse.

Mathew Legrand Arrington was first arrested on May 7 after one of his adopted children came forward with a report that Arrington had sexually assaulted her while the two slept together.

More >> Valley foster parent arrested, facing multiple counts of sexual abuse

Child welfare agency says it shouldn't be forced to house teens who've committed crimes. Judges disagree

There are kids the Department of Child Safety doesn't want, and the agency is working with an influential lawmaker to curb the number of those children entering the foster-care system.

DCS Director Greg McKay has been complaining for months that judges are foisting onto his department children with juvenile delinquency issues. These children, he's argued in correspondence with court and probation officials, are too dangerous to share a foster or group home with kids who have been removed from their homes due to neglect or abuse.

More >> Child welfare agency says it shouldn't be forced to house teens who've committed crimes. Judges disagree

A child reported his dad abusing him. Last year, a toddler girl died in foster care at the same home.

A toddler girl died last year in the same Arizona foster placement where, in April, an older child sent police an email reporting his father had physically abused him for two years, according to several people who know the family.

In a chilling email to El Mirage Police Chief Paul Marzocca, the boy said he was “afraid to go home,” according to court records. When police visited the boy at Riverview Elementary School, he told officers that the night before, his father "punched him, choked him, threw him into the cabinet, striking his head on the counter and floor," according to court records. The boy said when he was on the floor, his father, Colin Steffee, 27, kicked him in the ribs.

More >> A child reported his dad abusing him. Last year, a toddler girl died in foster care at the same home.

'No excuse for this': Family whose child was in home of foster dad who abused his son questions vetting process

The family of a toddler living in an El Mirage foster home, where an older child reported being abused by his father for two years, is questioning whether the state Department of Child Safety is adequately investigating foster parents.

The toddler was in a temporary foster placement at the home of Colin Steffee, 27, when he arrived for a family visit last month with cuts under his eyes and scratches on his cheek.

More >> 'No excuse for this': Family whose child was in home of foster dad who abused his son questions vetting process

Child-welfare cases are private. Does that protect the kids, or the state officials?

The Department of Child Safety's enforcement of confidentiality is peppered with exceptions — particularly when the public is paying attention.

More >> Child-welfare cases are private. Does that protect the kids, or the state officials?

9th Circuit upholds class-action status of foster children's lawsuit against Arizona

The Arizona Department of Child Safety will have to defend how it handles the more than 14,000 children in foster care now and all those who will be there in the future, a court says.

In a unanimous ruling Friday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decided that most of the claims against the state should be handled in a class-action lawsuit. That means the department will face questions on not just how it has handled the care of a handful of children who filed suit, but whether its policies endanger others in the system.

More >> 9th Circuit upholds class-action status of foster children's lawsuit against Arizona

Judges can overrule parents on treatment for transgender children, Arizona Supreme Court rules

Arizona judges can require parents to provide counseling, therapy and other expert help to children who may be transgender, even if one parent doesn't support treatment, the state's highest court ruled Thursday.

More >> Judges can overrule parents on treatment for transgender children, Arizona Supreme Court rules

Navajo Nation Wins Appeal in Indian Child Welfare Act Case

The Arizona Court of Appeals ordered a new hearing Thursday over the guardianship of a 6-year-old child who is subject to the Indian Child Welfare Act.

The Navajo Nation appealed the case, The Navajo Nation v. Department of Child Safety et al., in October 2018 after the juvenile court failed to hear the testimony of a qualified expert witness as required by the ICWA in the child's guardianship case.

More >> Navajo Nation Wins Appeal in Indian Child Welfare Act Case

Judge issues sweeping restrictions on how media can report on feverish-child case

An Arizona judge kept open to the public a hearing in a controversial child-welfare case but issued sweeping restrictions on the news media and public reporting on the proceedings, according to a government watchdog group.

Lori Ford, with Arizona DCS Oversight Group, observed Friday's hearing at which, she said, Maricopa County Juvenile Court Presiding Judge Timothy J. Ryan told a reporter “that she should not publish any news stories about the case."

More >> Judge issues sweeping restrictions on how media can report on feverish-child case

Media, lawmaker booted from court hearing; questions surround DCS case of Chandler family with feverish child

An Arizona judge's latest decision to throw a reporter and state lawmaker out of child-welfare hearings in a controversial case has raised a new layer of questions about how the case is being handled, parents' free-speech rights and public scrutiny of the child-welfare system.

The family drew nationwide attention when their children were taken after Chandler police, with guns drawn, kicked down their door to check on an unvaccinated child with a fever.

More >> Media, lawmaker booted from court hearing; questions surround DCS case of Chandler family with feverish child

Arizona police department facing criticism for kicking in door to bring sick boy to hospital

Officers wielding pistols and ballistic shields kicked in the door of a suburban Phoenix home in the middle of the night to bring a sick 2-year-old boy to a hospital after his mother refused a doctor's advice to get him to an emergency room for what was thought to be a potentially life-threatening illness.

The doctor called child-welfare authorities on Feb. 25 after the mother didn't show up at the agreed-upon emergency room, leading police in Chandler to knock on their family's door to check on the condition of the boy, who earlier in the day had a fever of 105°F (41°C) and was suspected to have meningitis.

More >> Arizona police department facing criticism for kicking in door to bring sick boy to hospital

AZ lawmaker calls police raid to take sick Chandler child to hospital 'excessive'

After a SWAT team broke open a door to take an unvaccinated 2-year-old boy with a fever to the hospital, an Arizona lawmaker is calling for a review of police and child protective services procedures.

"I want to sit down with stakeholders about this," said state Rep. Kelly Townsend. "That was excessive. It's a scary thing."

More >> AZ lawmaker calls police raid to take sick Chandler child to hospital 'excessive'