The cases were misclassified as not requiring investigations beginning in 2009, and the number rapidly escalated since January as caseloads increased and a new hotline process was put in place, said Clarence Carter, head of the state's child welfare system.
There are about 6,000 cases that will need review, Carter said. About half of them were received this year. At least 125 cases already have been identified where children subsequently became the subject of another child abuse investigation.
Arizona's Child Protective Services department has been one of Gov. Jan Brewer's major priorities and has suffered from understaffing and major increases in abuse reports and workloads in recent years. She got approval from the Legislature in January for emergency funding to for 50 new caseworkers and regular funding for 150 more in the budget year that began July 1. More
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