“Deeply Corrupt” Arizona Lawmakers Advance Sweeping DCS Reforms Amid Allegations of Systemic Bias and a Broken System
Hearing exposes racial disparities, foster care failures, and structural dysfunction inside child welfare system
The DCS hearing went on for over three hours. These five minutes exposed the most horrifying truths about Arizona’s child welfare system.
In an emotionally charged and often volatile hearing on February 19, 2026, the Arizona House Special Committee on Government advanced sweeping legislative reforms aimed at dismantling what lawmakers described as “deeply, deeply corrupt” systemic failures within the Department of Child Safety (DCS).
The proceedings were marked by stark testimony from grieving parents and former foster youth, alongside a sharp condemnation from lawmakers regarding the agency’s treatment of minority families and its reliance on “jurisdictional loopholes” that leave children in danger.
Chairman Walt Blackman opened the hearing by characterizing the current state of Arizona’s child welfare system as a “pivotal moment” requiring “decisive actions” rather than political rhetoric. He pointed to a legacy of systemic problems persisting since 1978, arguing that the agency’s leadership is effectively being asked to “turn a ship without the steering wheel” due to bureaucratic red tape and conflicting policies.
During the hearing he framed the issues as follows:
Representative Gillette voiced significant frustration throughout the hearing, particularly regarding the agency’s inability to follow its own established safety protocols.
Gillette noted for example that while DCS has had a “Drug-Free Workforce” policy since 2018, the Director is frequently “circumvented” by other departments, such as Human Resources, when attempting to terminate or suspend “bad actors.”
“We have a policy that has the effect of law,” Gillette remarked during a heated exchange. “The Director wants to execute that policy and is told by another body not to… that’s what we have to clear up.”
Below are some of Rep. Gillette’s most explosive statements:
ProPublica Report frequently referred to during the hearing.
Racial Disparities and the “Neglect” Trap
A central theme of the hearing was the disproportionate impact of the system on black and Latino families. Testimony from legal experts and community members painted a picture of a system where according to the testimony poverty is frequently criminalized and misidentified as neglect.
Misidentifying Poverty: Attorney Diane Post, who represented the NAACP for over 23 years, detailed cases where children were removed from black grandmothers because they lacked a second bedroom (for a child under age 1) or used a playpen instead of a crib. “They used neglect when in fact the problem was poverty,” Post testified, noting that these families were then denied the “kinship care” status that state rules are supposed to prioritize.
Racial Profiling: One witness, a licensed therapist and former state secretary for the NAACP, recounted a “shocking” interaction with DCS investigators. “They stated that my children were too articulate,” she told the committee. “They said children who look like this don’t speak like this… my children were accused of being coached because they are children of color.”
Double Termination Rates: Lawmakers reviewed data suggesting that Black and Latino parents face nearly double the rate of parental rights termination compared to white parents, often without being offered the “reunification services” required by law.
Repeated testimony and federal data presented to lawmakers 63% of black children in Maricopa County were subjected to a DCS investigation by age 18, raising serious concerns that race is influencing which families are targeted by the system.
ProPublica Study
Legislative Reform Measures Advanced
During the hearing, lawmakers advanced multiple bills - mostly on party lines, aimed at restructuring foster care oversight, strengthening kinship placement requirements, and imposing stricter accountability standards. The Democrats largely abstained or voted against the measures.
House Bill 2611 – Foster Youth Bill of Rights and Mandatory Drug Screening
• Requires group foster home employees to undergo mandatory drug screening, including quarterly tests and screenings following safety incidents.
• Mandates immediate removal from contact with children if a staff member tests positive, pending confirmation and medical review.
• Allows termination of employees confirmed to have illegal or unauthorized drug use.
• Establishes and expands a Foster Youth Bill of Rights, including: Right to be free from discrimination, bullying, and abuse. Right to receive mental health and medical care. Right to participate in school and extracurricular activities. Right to access grievance procedures and advocacy support. Requires foster homes to implement resident safety policies, staff training, and accountability measures. Requires posting of youth rights and emergency contact information in group homes. Includes designated advocates as part of a child’s placement team to ensure their interests are represented.
Testimony from foster youth underscored the urgency.
“A rule on paper doesn’t keep you safe at night,” said former foster youth Anis Mathis. “We don’t want safety to be a suggestion. We want it to be the law.”
Another youth, Alexander Ochoa Rivera, said the bill would finally allow foster youth to “hold adults accountable.”
Lawmakers stated the bill was also intended to restore authority to the DCS Director, whose ability to remove unsafe staff has been limited by bureaucratic interference.
House Bill 2035 – Expanding Kinship Placement and Family Preference
Key provisions include:
• Requires DCS to include extended family members and individuals with significant relationships in placement searches.
• Establishes a legal presumption that kinship placement is in the child’s best interest, unless proven otherwise.
• Requires DCS to actively notify relatives when a child is taken into custody.
• Strengthens timelines and reporting requirements to prevent children from being lost in the system.
• Requires written findings when kinship placement is denied.
Lawmakers emphasized research showing children placed with relatives experience:
– Less trauma
– Lower rates of depression and PTSD
– Better academic outcomes
– Higher long-term stability
“This bill codifies into law what should already be happening,” lawmakers explained.
Advocates testified that children are often administratively “lost” due to paperwork failures, staffing shortages, and lack of follow-through.
House Bill 4049 - Authorizes DCS to Employ Legal Counsel
The committee adopted an amendment that narrows and sharpens the purpose:
In certain proceedings where there are credible allegations against DCS or its agent, the Attorney General (or appointed counsel) must represent the state’s interests, not DCS as “the client.”
It directs AG/appointed counsel to conduct an independent review of the record and advise the court of its legal assessment in those cases.
It explicitly says that counsel is not subject to direction, retaliation, or adverse employment action by DCS for taking a position inconsistent with DCS’s recommendation.
HB 4049 authorizes the Arizona Department of Child Safety to employ legal counsel and to “make an expenditure, or incur an indebtedness for legal services.”
The democrats expressed that moving legal functions around is a “seismic shift” without a clean transition plan or clear funding picture, and they voted against the measure.
This is the point in the hearing where the hearing went off the rails and tempers flared.
Vice Chair Rep. Fink framed the problem as structural: when the AG represents DCS, it can function like a client-attorney relationship where “the client can tell the attorney what needs to be done,” and “usually… it’s what the client wants” that drives the case.
Public testimony that sharpened the point:
Attorney Jennifer Mosher told the committee that while lawyers must consider what a client wants, an attorney’s ethical duty to the court is higher—and she said in DCS cases she sees “mistruth” perpetuated because the current structure makes it “impossible” for the AG and DCS to separate, including when a client is “perpetuating a lie.”
She argued HB 4049 would allow “the truth to prevail” to the court.
Another speaker argued the fix requires “a complete separation between [the] Attorney General’s office and DCS” and said “DCS should be able to get their own attorneys
House Bill 4004 – Closing the “Protective Parent” Loophole, Abuse Investigations
The committee moved to advance HB 4004, which addresses a controversial practice where DCS marks abuse reports as “unsubstantiated” if a “protective parent” is present in the home.
Advocates argued this loophole prevents law enforcement intervention and allows abusers to gain custody.
Parents Describe Abuse, Lost Custody, and a System That Failed to Act: House Bill 4004 emerged directly from the testimony of parents who said Arizona’s child welfare system documented abuse but failed to protect their children because they were considered “protective parents.”
Rachel Cardona: “Beating, Poisoning, Strangulation, and Starvation”
Rachel Cardona, a mother of five, told lawmakers she uprooted her life to protect her sons from their father, only to watch the system return them to him.
“Mandated reporters… consistently reported the ongoing intensifying beating, poisoning, strangulation, and starvation of my children at the hands of their father,” Cardona testified.
A DCS investigator initially told her she planned to substantiate the abuse. Instead, Cardona later received a letter stating the allegations were unsubstantiated.
“I later learned… because I was identified as a protective parent… the case was closed as unsubstantiated,” she said. “Within a month I lost custody of my children. And they were given completely over to their abusers.”
Cardona’s ex-husband was later convicted and sentenced to 28 years in prison.
“These cases are not anomalies or isolated incidents,” she told lawmakers. “They’re everyday occurrences.”
Mother of Twins: Strangulation, Box Cutter Assault, and Still Granted Custody
Another mother described how her ex-husband had already pled guilty to strangling his stepson, yet was still granted shared custody of their daughters.
“He was granted 50-50 custody… and he continued to abuse them,” she testified.
She said DCS dismissed reports even after physical abuse was documented.
“A counselor reported him… for hitting our daughter with a broom handle and bruising her arm. Even so, the report came back unsubstantiated.”
She told lawmakers the violence escalated.
“He had two strangulation guilty pleas, gave black eyes, cut the palate of my son’s mouth with a box cutter, shot his rifle through the ceiling… and yet was ultimately granted unsupervised, shared custody.”
He was later convicted of kidnapping and sexual assault and sentenced to 28 years in prison.
Parent: Abuse Ignored Until More Children Were Harmed
A third parent testified that even medical professionals’ findings were not enough to protect her child.
“I had doctors testifying on behalf of my children, none of them were believed,” she said. “The only reason I got my children back is because he was arrested for grooming other children.”
She said multiple children were harmed after the system failed to act.
“There’s at least five other children who had been harmed by this individual… that never would have happened if custody would not have been flipped to their abuser.”
Parent: “Each Part of the System Recognized the Danger”
Another parent described being told repeatedly that DCS could not intervene because she was a protective parent.
“I was repeatedly told… because I was a protective parent, they could not intervene,” she said.
“Each part of the system recognized the danger, but no part was able or willing to act.”
She said abuse allegations were routinely dismissed when criminal charges were not immediately filed.
“When the police do not prosecute, automatically, the Department of Child Safety is unsubstantiating sexual abuse,” she testified.
Closing the “Protective Parent” Loophole
Parents told lawmakers the consequences of those decisions were life-altering.
Several described losing custody, being accused of alienation, and watching their children returned to homes where abuse had already been documented.
Supporters said House Bill 4004 is designed to close the legal gap that allows cases to be dismissed when one parent is considered protective, requiring DCS to investigate credible abuse reports and take protective action regardless of custody status.
One parent told lawmakers the bill would change that.
“House Bill 4004 is important because it makes the buck stop somewhere,” she said.
“It ensures that children do not lose protection simply because one agency says it’s another agency’s responsibility.”
She added:
“Child safety should never depend on technicalities or jurisdictional loopholes.”
House Bill 2860 – Independent Oversight Committee
Lawmakers also recommended HB 2860, which would establish an independent oversight body to monitor DCS operations.
Key provisions include:
• Creation of an Independent Child Safety Oversight Committee
• Authority to review agency decisions and complaints
• Increased transparency into foster care placements and investigations
• Accountability reporting to the legislature and public
Lawmakers said the proposed independent oversight committee is intended to do more than duplicate existing review boards. Testimony acknowledged that Arizona already has multiple advisory panels and review bodies, but members said those entities often operate in silos without enforcement power.
The goal of HB 2860, lawmakers said, is to create a central oversight body with real authority. One that other committees could report to — ensuring findings do not simply result in recommendations but lead to action. Supporters said the intent is to establish a committee “with teeth,” capable of identifying systemic failures, holding agencies accountable, and ensuring reforms are actually implemented rather than lost in bureaucracy.
Conclusion: Lawmakers Declare System Broken, Advance Sweeping Reforms
The February 19 hearing made one thing clear: Arizona lawmakers believe the child welfare system is failing the children it was created to protect.
Parents described abuse that went uninvestigated. Foster youth testified to unsafe placements. One attorney told lawmakers bluntly, “We have a system that is deeply, deeply corrupt.”
Chairman Walter Blackman said incremental change is no longer enough.
“Doing the same thing over and over is not working,” Blackman said. “We need legislation that is going to stick — that may ruffle the system, uproot the systems.”
If passed, the reforms would strengthen protections, increase accountability, and close legal loopholes lawmakers said have left children in danger.
Together, they represent what lawmakers described as a long-overdue effort to fix a broken system.
March 4, 2026, the House Government Committee will reconvene, and the Director of the Department of Child Safety is expected to appear and answer questions directly from lawmakers.
Up to this point, the committee has heard hours of testimony from parents, foster youth, attorneys, and advocates describing systemic failures, ignored abuse, and accountability gaps.
March 4 will give lawmakers the opportunity to hear from the agency itself.