DCS; intake hotline; multiple reports

Plain English Breakdown

The official text confirms the effective date is the 'general effective date' but does not specify a calendar date in the provided excerpts.

SB1172: Rules for Child Safety Investigations and Vendor Credentialing

This law requires the Department of Child Safety to assign complex abuse cases with multiple reports to experienced staff, notify courts about new hotline calls involving children in dependency actions, and gives vendors a chance to fix errors before their credentialing applications are denied.

What This Bill Does

• Requires DCS to assign investigations where four or more abuse or neglect reports involve the same caregiver within 12 months to specialists with at least two years of experience.
• Allows DCS to use investigators with advanced forensic training for these high-volume cases if they are available.
• Mandates that DCS tell dependency courts about any new hotline calls alleging abuse involving a child already under court supervision.
• Gives applicants denied credentialing by the Department of Economic Security 14 business days to fix errors in their application before final denial.
• Requires the department to reevaluate an application if the applicant fixes the listed deficiencies within the allowed time.

Who It Names or Affects

• The Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) and its investigators
• Caregivers who receive four or more abuse reports in a 12-month period
• Courts handling child dependency cases
• Organizations applying for credentialing to provide developmental disabilities services

Terms To Know

Credentialing

The process of checking if a vendor meets the rules and standards needed to sign a contract with the state.

Dependency action

A legal case where a court has authority over a child's care because they may be unsafe at home.

Deficiencies

Errors or missing information in an application that caused it to be rejected initially.

Limits and Unknowns

• The law does not state how many investigators currently have the required two years of experience.
• There is no data on how often caregivers are reported four times within a single year.
• Rules for implementing the credentialing appeal process must be created by June 30, 2027.

Official Summary Text

SB1172 - 572R - Senate Fact Sheet

Assigned to
HHS�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� FOR
COMMITTEE

ARIZONA STATE SENATE

Fifty-Seventh
Legislature, Second Regular Session

REVISED

FACT SHEET FOR
S.B. 1172

DCS; intake
hotline; multiple reports

Purpose

Requires the
Department of Child Safety (DCS) to assign investigations involving four or
more reports of abuse or neglect in a 12-month period to more experienced
personnel and to notify the dependency court of DCS hotline reports involving
children subject to a dependency action.

Background

DCS must operate
a 24/7 centralized intake hotline that receives communications concerning
suspected child abuse or neglect. The hotline must be operated to record
communications, identify prior reports related to the current communication,
provide information to a law enforcement agency if necessary, create DCS
reports and determine priority level of investigation (
A.R.S.
� 8-455
).

DCS employs two
different types of investigators of child abuse and neglect. Child safety
specialists conduct intake assessments and field investigations. The Office of
Child Welfare Investigations (OCWI) investigates criminal conduct allegations
and must coordinate with local municipal or county law enforcement. OCWI
investigators must have a law enforcement background and complete forensic
training (
A.R.S.
� 8-471
).

The Joint
Legislative Budget Committee fiscal note estimates that S.B. 1172 would likely
require DCS to shift workload from caseworkers with less experience to
caseworkers with more experience, but there is insufficient data and agency
input concerning how many caseworkers would qualify for these investigations
and how often caregivers are re-reported within a 12-month period (
JLBC fiscal
note
).

Provisions

1.

Requires DCS, upon receipt of four or more reports of abuse or neglect
by the same caregiver in less than 12 months, to assign the investigation to a
child safety specialist with at least two years of experience or, if available,
a specialist who has advanced forensic training.

2.

Requires DCS to disclose a hotline call that alleges abuse or neglect of
a child who is the subject of a dependency action to the court that has
jurisdiction over the child's dependency action.

3.

Makes technical and conforming changes.

4.

Becomes effective on the general effective date.

Revisions

�

Updates the fiscal impact statement.

Prepared by Senate Research

May 4, 2026

MM/MS/hk

Current Bill Text

Chapter 0067 - 572R - H Ver of SB1172

House Engrossed
Senate Bill

DCS;
intake hotline; multiple reports

(now: deficiencies;
denial; credentialing)

State of Arizona

Senate

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

CHAPTER 67

SENATE BILL 1172

AN
ACT

amending title 41, chapter 14, article 1,
Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 41-1971; relating to the
department of economic security.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Title 41, chapter 14, article 1,
Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 41-1971, to read:

START_STATUTE
41-1971.

Credentialing or recredentialing applications; developmental
disabilities services; deficiencies; denial; appeal; rules; definitions

A. if the department denies
An application for CREDENTIALING or recredentialing, the department
shall give the
applicant an OPPORTUNITY to correct any
DEFICIENCIES with the application that led to the INITIAL denial. The
applicant has fourteen business days after receiving the notice of
DENIAL from the department to correct the DEFICIENCIES. If the
applicant notifies the department in writing within the fourteen-day
period that the deficiencies have been corrected, the department shall
reevaluate the credentialing or reCREDENTIALING application.

B. If
after
reevaluation the department denies the application
and does not initiate a contract action within fourteen business days,
the
applicant may appeal the decision pursuant to Article
3 of this chapter.

C. on or
before june 30, 2027, the department shall adopt rules to implement this
section.

d. for
the purposes of this section
:

1. "APPLICANT"
MEANS A PERSON OR ORGANIZATION THAT HAS SUBMITTED AN APPLICATION SEEKING
CREDENTIALING BY THE DEPARTMENT.

2. "CREDENTIALING"
means the process of verifying the qualifications and standards and any other
requirements a vendor must have to be ELIGIBLE to contract with the department
to provide services
pursuant to section 36-557.
END_STATUTE

APPROVED BY THE GOVERNOR MAY 29, 2026.

FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE MAY 29, 2026.