PHOENIX — Calls for change have been growing louder following three high-profile murders of children known to the state Department of Child Safety. ABC15 sat down with Arizona Representative Walter Blackman just days before a stakeholder meeting on Wednesday.
The meeting will bring together tribal leaders, law enforcement, and legislators to discuss state protocols. In a press release, state Senator Carine Werner's office said the goal was to identify "immediate safety improvements and develop long-term reforms..."
"This is a hard thing to look at, because you have a little girl that was tortured, that was abused, systems failed on her," said Rep. Blackman.
His district covers a portion of eastern Arizona, close to the final place Rebekah Baptiste lived before she was killed.
Rebekah's death followed the loss of 14-year-old Emily Pike and also 16-year-old Zariah Dodd.
The 10-year-old was found severely injured at the end of July in Holbrook, Arizona. The young girl was transported to Phoenix Children's, where she died three days later.
Court records show the Baptiste family moved to rural Apache County at the beginning of that month.
ABC15 was told by Rebekah's former Valley school that administrators had reached out to DCS repeatedly, reporting concerns of abuse or neglect in the home.
Of the five times DCS investigated the family in recent years, the department didn't find evidence to support the allegations.
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"That's a broken system," said Rep. Blackman. "If a child is reported by a mandated reporter, that should be an automatic to let's check this out. Okay? Those are systems that should have been in place. Doing it after the fact and saying that that's not part of our purview because of a lack of evidence or what you have, that's just the wrong thing to do."
Rep. Blackman said he called other states and met with the DCS Director, Kathryn Ptak, before our interview and the upcoming meeting.
He said his focal points when it comes to DCS staff include pay, resources, and training.
"We need to make sure that we have folks that are not going to be burnt out," said Rep. Blackman. "We need to make sure we have counselors that are not scared to go to work because of things like this, because there's bad actors in some of these homes, and then we need to make sure our group homes are safe. That means we need to check on them."
Rep. Blackman hopes for a clear path forward following this week's meeting.
"I don't want to see an overdressed stakeholder meeting," said Rep. Blackburn. "And what I want to see is us come out of that meeting with some concrete ways forward."
He hopes more lawmakers will join him in his class for change and action.
"We have to put our whole heart into this and fix this, because this problem is bigger than us," said Rep. Blackburn.
You can watch the extended interview with Rep. Blackman on our streaming apps, YouTube, or the player below.
