Gov. Hobbs signs DCS accountability bill

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A new bill designed to hold the Arizona Department of Child Safety accountable when vulnerable children go missing from foster care was signed into law this week by Gov. Katie Hobbs.

This is the second bill in the last two years related to missing foster children that has become law, with the goal of additional DCS oversight.

Last year’s bill put federal and state mandates and DCS policies into a specific law, requiring prompt notifications to law enforcement, family, and local media when a foster child goes missing. But advocates said DCS was not complying, which is why they said an additional law with teeth was needed.

“Super excited that the law passed, but also really sad because no one should have to go and make legislative changes to do things that are common sense,” said Anika Robinson

Robinson, a foster parent and the president of ASA Now, said it’s been a long fight to pass House Bill 2479. It requires DCS to inform law enforcement and anyone connected to a child within 24 hours if someone in their care goes missing, runs away, or is abducted.

That child must also be entered into the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children database.

“These kids matter. They matter to me. They matter to my village,” Robinson said.

Her work for legislative change began after two teen girls went missing from a Mesa group home in January 2023. Their bodies were found in a nearby water basin two weeks later.

“We know that every single minute that passes means life or death for a child,” she said.

That tragic case and personal experience pushed Stephen Follett to get involved.

“This was avoidable,” said Follett.

He said years ago, one of his adopted daughters ran away from a group home. Follett said the then 15-year-old was in DCS care for behavioral health reasons, and no one alerted him she was gone until days later. He claims she was never in the NCMEC database, but nine days after she left, she was found.

“The system is completely broken and we had to make changes. We had to instill changes,” said Follett.

Under the new law, DCS has to establish a missing, abducted, and runaway children unit if the agency shows a less than 95% compliance rate for four months in a one-year period.

“To ensure that no other children that go missing fall through the cracks,” said Robinson.

The new law also requires DCS to submit a monthly report to the Governor, Senate and House leadership with the names of all missing foster children and documentation that notifications were made within the proper time frames.

Arizona’s Family reached out to DCS for a comment but did not hear back.

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