PHOENIX, AZ — The state's child abuse hotline is supposed to be a lifeline for Arizona's most vulnerable children. But the Department of Child Safety's hotline is under scrutiny once again.
"It would be like 911 not having enough operators to be able to respond in a timely manner," said foster advocate Anika Robinson.
She is also the founder and president of the non-profit ASA Now. Robinson said she's experienced the issues ABC15 has reported on firsthand.
Our team of investigators obtained video-recorded testimony from top insiders, showing the DCS hotline has been plagued with problems dating back to 2008.
Now once again, there are long wait times and missed calls.
"Just a few weeks ago, I tried calling to report an instance, and I waited an hour and 15 minutes," said Robinson.
She showed us call logs for the multiple times within the last month that she tried to reach out.
ABC15 has extensively covered issues that the Arizona Department of Child Safety has faced. Find out full coverage by clicking here.
"It makes me wonder, out of all of the reports that we do know about, how many more are those dropped calls?" said Robinson.
She told ABC15 the issues go beyond the hotline.
There's also the warm line, a resource for foster and kinship caregivers, and an online portal designed to take reports of alleged abuse or neglect.
She said she's seen issues with both, including people not getting a call back.
ABC15 previously asked DCS about the hotline. The department pointed to recent media coverage as part of the reason for the increased call volume over the past several months.
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"If there's media to bring attention to children who are being injured and hurt, and people are calling and there's an influx, then I'm grateful that people know that a line exists," said Robinson.
She's echoing the calls for accountability and even took her concerns directly to DCS Director Katherine Ptak.
"The response that I received is they're aware, and they are working on it," said Robinson.
DCS has already admitted there are issues with the hotline. ABC15 was also told the agency is looking at ways to increase staffing.
The department, in a statement, said it's a top priority to make sure every child safety concern is answered quickly.
For now, DCS is pushing people to use the online portal to free up phone lines.
Robinson has stressed that she experienced issues attempting to report online and said the steps aren't always easily accessible or timely.
"I think that a lot of times what we need to look at, rather than deflecting and trying to say, well, this is a reason why. Is this is what's happening right now, and what are we going to do to ensure that we are having enough staff to be able to cover the lines?" said Robinson.
We reached out to DCS before this story to ask about the issues Robinson described.
The agency gave us contact information for people having trouble reaching the department, but had no updates on fixes to the system.
