PHOENIX — The violent, live-streamed attack on an Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) worker has prompted Arizona leadership to vow to make changes.
“We are taking seriously the concerns that have been raised about employee safety," Deputy Director David Lujan said in a message to DCS employees on Nov. 13.
In that message, he encouraged DCS caseworkers to go into the field in pairs. However, employees who spoke to 12News on the condition of anonymity, said an overtime policy in place since June has made that virtually impossible.
That policy states that any employee who clocks over 20 hours of overtime in a pay period must get approval from executive leadership, specifically a Deputy Director, the General Counsel, or the Executive Consultant to the Director.
This policy directive has now been eliminated, according to DCS. However, employees still must get OT hours of any kind approved by a supervisor.
“We have heard that previous restrictions on overtime may have been discouraging this practice, so those overtime restrictions are now being lifted for field staff," Lujan said in the message to staff.
In 2024, the DCS budget was cut by some 3-4% by the Arizona legislature. 12News asked leadership from both sides of the aisle if they believe increasing their funding would help worker safety.
The Arizona Senate Republicans were unavailable for an interview. However, they issued a statement saying, "Budget cuts are not impacting the safety of case workers. Poor leadership and poor management of DCS are at the forefront of this issue.”
12News is expected to speak with Republican Senator T.J. Shope in the coming days to understand what, in their view, DCS leadership has done poorly.
Across the aisle, Senate Democrats have a differing view. Minority Leader Misty Epstein said DCS being forced to cut ties with their security providers for their Valley buildings is the fault of Republicans.
“My Republican colleagues have cut the budget and cut the budget and cut the budget, and the result is we don't have enough security for people who need it," Sen. Epstein said.
She is encouraging the majority party to examine their views and look at providing DCS the resources they need in the 2025 legislative session.
“This is the face of children. This is the face of social workers. This is the face of families," Sen. Epstein said. "And we've cut their security so that they don't have enough to provide security for social workers."
The office of Governor Katie Hobbs said Republicans care more about school vouchers than protecting public servants.
“It's regrettable that Republican legislators continue to politicize the safety of AZ’s children and our dedicated public servants who dedicate their lives to keeping AZ’s children safe," a statement said. "They would rather protect the right for ESA parents to purchase luxury car driving lessons, ski passes, and grand pianos rather than properly fund critical agencies like DCS."
12News spoke with former DCS Director Matthew Stewart, who says current DCS leadership can build trust with their employees by first acknowledging there may have been security lapses that contributed to the Nov. 4 assault on one of their own.
“It takes a strong leader to be bold and to have the courage to address, to admit if there were mistakes made," Stewart said. "I hope that the leadership has an ear to hearing what the people on the ground are seeing, what they need, and how they can partner with the community to make sure that children and families are supported and really can thrive."
The caseworker assaulted by the suspect, De'andre Johnson, is at home recovering tonight. Thursday, Johnson was indicted by a grand jury on multiple felony charges, including attempted murder and aggravated assault.
The governor's office also released the following statement about the attack and safety improvements:
The violent attack on a DCS worker was cruel and unacceptable, and the Governor is relieved to hear the employee is now safe and recovering. As a social worker, Governor Hobbs knows that the work DCS employees do is extremely challenging and often thankless. But it should not be dangerous.
Governor Hobbs is committed to ensuring a safe environment for all DCS workers as they help vulnerable children and their families navigate difficult circumstances. The safety of these workers is absolutely essential to our mission to strengthen families and help children thrive.
DCS has taken steps to begin addressing security concerns, including:
- Risk Management Assessments: Our Risk Management team works with Program Managers and Building Liaisons to assess and address specific security needs.
- Alert Media: All of our field specialists have Alert Media feature on their phones. This is an app that immediately contacts law enforcement if an employee is in a dangerous situation.
- Resource list for Parenting Time and TDM: We created a resource guide to identify community locations that offer some level of security or increased public visibility for Parenting Time and Team Decision-Making Meetings.
- Partnership with Local Law Enforcement: We worked closely with local law enforcement to build relationships to increase law enforcement visibility in our offices and surrounding areas.
- Workplace violence and de-escalation training: We provide trainings to our employees on de-escalation techniques they can use if they find themselves in a high-risk situation.
- Signage: Signage is posted in local offices to communicate our Safety and Conduct Guidelines to visitors.
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