Phoenix, Ariz. — Arizona’s Department of Child Safety waited as long as about five days to decide whether group home workers accused of abusing children should be kept away from them, holding off until it had interviewed the alleged victims, the Arizona Auditor General found in a special audit released Sept. 23, 2026. In one case, a worker the department had ordered removed was later accused of abusing another child at a second group home run by the same provider.
The report also found that Arizona law gives the department no explicit power to place group home staff on the state’s child abuse and neglect registry for neglect, a penalty it can and does apply to parents.
What the audit found
Report 26-112, signed by Auditor General Lindsey A. Perry, is the second of three audits ordered by the Legislature’s Joint Legislative Audit Committee in September 2024. A 2024 law that took effect Sept. 14, 2024, required the department to investigate abuse allegations against staff at the group homes it licenses and contracts with. Before that, the department had stopped investigating those allegations as of June 30, 2023, saying group home workers did not meet the legal definition of a caregiver.
From Sept. 14, 2024, through Dec. 1, 2025, the department received 93 reports alleging abuse by group home staff: 65 in Maricopa County, 22 in Pinal County and six in Pima County. As of March 2026, 1,220 children in department care lived in its 172 licensed and contracted group homes.
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Auditors reviewed 26 of the 93 reports. Although they said they did not identify systemic child safety or investigative process failures, they found four problems with how the department decides whether an accused worker stays around children.
Accused workers stayed on the job
In 14 reports, the department waited until it had interviewed the alleged child victim before deciding whether the accused worker should lose access to children. That took an average of 32 hours and ranged from 1 hour and 23 minutes to about five days. The allegations in those reports included staff inappropriately touching children, injuring them, giving them illegal substances and putting them in dangerous situations.
In seven of the reports reviewed, the department told the group home to remove the accused worker. In two, the group home never confirmed in writing that they had, and the department could not show it followed up. About five months after one of those notices, the same worker was accused of physically abusing a child at another group home run by the same agency. According to department records cited by auditors, that group home gave “contradictory and false information” about the worker’s location and employment. The provider’s contract and license were later terminated.
Auditors found no written policy on when or how to remove an accused worker, and no documentation of how investigators made those decisions in the 14 cases. Auditors said department contracts with providers are inconsistent with its actual practice.
One standard for parents, another for staff
When parents are investigated, the department uses its SAFE AZ assessment model, which evaluates the adult’s parenting, behavior management and discipline. Auditors found no similar standardized assessment for group home workers.
The gap is wider for neglect. A parent found to have exposed a child to drugs such as fentanyl or marijuana can be placed on the central registry for 15 years, which is intended to disqualify people from jobs working with children. Because the 2024 law changed only the definition of abuse, the department treats neglect by group home staff as a possible licensing violation, with no registry listing. Auditors warned this leaves open the possibility that staff who neglected children can keep working with them.
What’s next
The auditor general made seven recommendations, including written rules for removing accused staff and following up with group homes, and asking lawmakers to clarify the department’s authority over neglect by group home staff. The department agreed with all findings and plans to implement all recommendations. Auditors will check its progress in six months.
Director Kathryn Ptak told AZFamily the department is “doing a very good job” on group home cases but acknowledged room for improvement.
we could have a little tighter process, and some states do it differently
Kathryn Ptak, director, Arizona Department of Child Safety, to AZFamily
Parents under investigation in Arizona face a structured assessment of their parenting and a 15-year registry listing for neglect, while the paid staff the state picks to care for children in its custody faced no comparable assessment and no registry listing for neglect. A system that holds families to a stricter standard than its own contractors is not short on power; it is short on accountability. FAN tracks this pattern in our overview of foster care system problems.
Key facts
- Agency: Arizona Department of Child Safety
- Audit: Arizona Auditor General special audit report 26-112, released Sept. 23, 2026
- 93 reports alleged abuse by group home staff from Sept. 14, 2024, to Dec. 1, 2025
- In 14 reviewed reports, the department took 1 hour 23 minutes to about 5 days to interview victims before deciding whether accused staff should lose access
- One worker the department ordered removed was accused of abusing a second child at another group home about five months later
- State law does not let the department list group home staff on the central registry for neglect
- The department agreed with all findings and seven recommendations
Sources
- Arizona Auditor General — Arizona Department of Child Safety: Investigations of Reports Involving Child Welfare Agency (Group Home) Staff, Report 26-112 (2026-09-23)
- AZFamily — DCS director responds to new state audits following child deaths (2026-09-23)
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