PHOENIX — Months after the Tucson deaths that prompted it, an effort to require Child Protective Services to open up fil es on children who have died won bipartisan approval Wednesday in the Arizona House.
The vote followed extensive floor debate and early opposition. But the bill eventually passed 47-12. To become law, it still needs approval from the Senate and the governor, and it may continue to undergo change.
The bill, which attempts to make records public in the event of a fatality or near-fatality, is viewed by supporters as the linchpin in a series of changes governing CPS, a state agency. But it has also been the most controversial part of an overhaul effort prompted by the deaths of three Tucson children. In those cases, it took a lawsuit by the Arizona Daily Star for the agency to release its records.
After holding the bill for more than a week, Rep. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, agreed to language changes to clearly state that CPS can redact the names of third-party individuals to protect their privacy.
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The bill says that if a county attorney believes making the information public would damage a case, CPS has the option of agreeing — or if it disagrees, going before a judge. And if CPS doesn't go to a judge, anyone else can.
The burden of proof is on the county attorney to show why the information should be withheld, because it is presumed to be open under the bill, unlike the current practice. "Reform can't happen when you can't see what the problems are, and this agency has been veiled in secrecy too long," Paton said.
During debate on the House floor, some lawmakers argued that the bill would create an adversarial relationship between county attorneys and CPS, and on an initial vote, most Democrats stood in opposition.
Rep. Pete Hershberger, R-Tucson, agreed, saying, "CPS is ill-equipped to deal with criminal issues with the county attorney." But Hershberger later voted for the bill, saying he hopes Paton will work the issues out.
On the final vote, seven Southern Arizona lawmakers, all Democrats, voted against the bill: Manuel Alvarez, David Bradley, Olivia Cajero Bedford, Phil Lopes, Linda Lopez, Tom Prezelski and Nancy Young Wright.
An early critic of the rule-change attempt, Rep. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, praised Paton for his efforts Wednesday and said that opening records might help CPS avoid criticism.
"CPS is going to get bashed even more if they're seen as hiding information," he said.
Farley joined Republicans Paton, Hershberger, Marian McClure and Jennifer Burns in supporting the measure. Although Southern Arizona Democrats opposed the bill, other House Democrats crossed over to support it.
Others, such as Rep. Pete Rios, D-Hayden, said they were against the idea of making the CPS information public altogether.
"You don't know what you're opening up when you're opening CPS records," Rios said. "I don't want to re-victimize the victim."
The House also approved a number of other policy changes to CPS. They include:
● Requiring CPS to report a missing child to law enforcement authorities, with the information to be entered into a national database.
● Requiring that all court proceedings involving termination of parental rights and making children dependents of the state will be presumed to be open.
● Requiring CPS workers to promptly obtain and abide by court orders that restrict or deny custody, contact or visitation by a parent or other person in the home with the child.
● Opening the personnel records of CPS workers and other state employees.
