Donnalee Sarda is the Regional Director in Justice For Children's Phoenix, Arizona office
Wed Jun 6, 2007 10:41 am (PST)

CPS caseworkers need to work in spotlight of public Donnalee Sarda Jun. 1, 2007 12:30 PM As child advocates with a seven-year history in Arizona and a 20-year history nationwide, Justice for Children shares the recent position expressed by The Arizona Republic on the importance of access to Child Protective Services' case information. One family's case history exposed by columnist Laurie Roberts in her recent articles provides insight into the reasons why:

In this case, the CPS worker's judgment was flawed because she was dating (according to the oldest child) a man known to be abusive physically and emotionally to his children.

Although the Department of Economic Security, the umbrella agency over CPS, desires to protect children's confidentiality through keeping cases closed from scrutiny (Ken Deibert's May 24 My Turn), they manage at the same time to keep their own actions protected and confidential.

But a state agency, especially when dealing with the welfare of children and families, must be accountable to a broader public. Media exercise commendable discretion, usually releasing children's names only in cases of child deaths. For instance, in Roberts' article, the names of the three children were never mentioned, nor was the name of the father or the mother. The name of the Child Protection Services' caseworker who admits to dating the father now has been published.

It's not the only time that state agencies, including law enforcement, misuse their power to discriminate in favor of one parent over another, especially when custody, as well as abuse, are in play. To call for accountability to watchdog groups outside "the system" is necessary and contributes to a positive outcome for children and families.

So, yes, child advocates and Gov. Napolitano push the envelope to allow responsible outside agencies to have access to some information, passing them confidentiality along, all for the safety of the children.

When state agencies cooperate with outside agencies, children are protected, not harmed. Law allows cooperation with those seeking the best interest of children. Child advocates, faith-based centers, shelters and hospitals can assist CPS, and do.

Though I don't know the names of the three children in question, I well know the names Liana Sandoval, C.J. Young, Angelina, Anndreah, Isaak, Laura, Joshua and the Christopher boys and more to the count of about 40 per year, because deaths are public information. Two more young children were added to the death toll in the past few weeks.

I would rather learn the names of the three young children in Roberts' article because our organization is working to nudge the system to do its job well, rather than because they were under CPS' scrutiny and care but were killed anyway. DES would surely agree.

Donnalee Sarda is a licensed professional counselor. She lives and works in Phoenix and is regional director for Justice For Children.