Child Protective Services changes Arizona hotline and hiring procedures, reaches full capacity

PHOENIX - Child Protective Services has undergone recent changes and improvements that have not only benefited clients, but staff as well.

According to a recent report, CPS caseworker staffing is at full capacity, bringing them to a number of caseworkers that hasn't been reached in over seven years.

Statewide, improved caseworker recruitment and training has allowed them to fill 100 percent of the jobs needed to be completely efficient, according to the Department of Economic Security's Division of Children, Youth and Families.

Today there are 856 caseworkers currently in the field and another 214 in training.

CPS is still working on the turnover rate of these jobs, but they hope that with the recent hiring improvements, they will be able to fill jobs that open up in the future.

DES hired new Staff Recruitment Manager Ed Richard to aid in the hiring improvements.

Richard has streamlined Arizona hiring practices and reformatted job postings to make systems across the state more standard.

Richard also reached out to rural communities to help fill open positions, according to a news release.

In addition, DES made improvements in the Arizona Child Abuse Hotline, reducing wait times and working to reduce the number of calls during which the caller hangs up before speaking with a specialist.

Since the improvements, abandoned calls have fallen from a rate of 20 percent to only eight percent.

DES states that they will continue to improve their operations to better their services to the public.