DCS; intake hotline; multiple reports

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material focuses primarily on the process related to application denials and corrections but does not provide details about what happens after an appeal is made or specify fiscal impacts.

Department of Economic Security; Application Denial Corrections

This bill requires the Department of Economic Security (DES) to give applicants whose credentialing or recredentialing applications were denied a chance to fix any problems within 14 days and then have their application reviewed again.

What This Bill Does

• Requires DES to notify an applicant if their credentialing or recredentialing application is denied.
• Gives the applicant 14 business days to correct any issues that led to the denial.
• Requires DES to review the corrected application and reconsider it.
• Allows applicants to appeal a decision if DES denies the application again after reviewing corrections.
• Requires DES to create rules for this process by June 30, 2027.

Who It Names or Affects

• Applicants seeking credentialing or recredentialing from DES
• The Department of Economic Security (DES)

Terms To Know

Credentialing

The process to check if a vendor meets the requirements to provide services for DES.

Applicant

A person or organization that has applied to be a qualified vendor with DES.

Limits and Unknowns

• Does not specify what happens after an appeal is made.
• The bill does not provide details on the fiscal impact of these changes.
• It only applies to applications for credentialing and recredentialing, not other types of applications.

Official Summary Text

SB1172 - 572R - Senate Fact Sheet

Assigned to
HHS���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� AS
PASSED BY HOUSE

ARIZONA STATE SENATE

Fifty-Seventh
Legislature, Second Regular Session

AMENDED

FACT SHEET FOR
S.B. 1172

DCS;
intake hotline; multiple reports

(
NOW:
deficiencies; denial; credentialing
)

As passed the
Senate, S.B. 1172 required the Department of Child Safety 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 hotline
reports involving children subject to a dependency action.

The House of Representatives
adopted a
strike-everything amendment that does the following:

Purpose

Requires the
Department of Economic Security (DES) to grant an applicant whose credentialing
or recredentialing application was denied 14 days to correct any application
deficiencies that led to the denial and an opportunity for reevaluation of the
application.

Background

DES requires
individual providers and provider agencies to apply to become a DES qualified
vendor as a condition of contracting to provide services through the Division
of Developmental Disabilities (DDD). Applicants must submit specified
information and documentation demonstrating eligibility and ability to provide
program services, which DES reviews to determine whether the applicant may be
authorized to provide program services. If a qualified vendor application is
denied, the applicant may protest the denial and appeal the decision through an
administrative appeals process (
DES
;
6 A.A.C. 6 art. 21
).

There is no
anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this
legislation.

Provisions

1.

Requires DES to give an applicant whose credentialing or recredentialing
application was denied an opportunity to correct any application deficiencies
that led to the denial.

2.

Grants an applicant 14 days to correct any deficiencies after receiving
an application denial notice.

3.

Requires DES to reevaluate a credentialing or recredentialing
application denial for an applicant that corrects all application deficiencies
within 14 days after receiving a denial notice.

4.

Stipulates that, if DES denies an application after reevaluation and
does not initiate a contract action within 14 business days, the applicant may
appeal the decision through the statutory administrative hearings and appeals
process.

5.

Requires DES to adopt rules to implement the credentialing deficiency
correction process by June 30, 2027.

6.

Defines
credentialing
as the process of verifying the
qualifications, standards and any other requirements a vendor must have to be
eligible to contract with DES to provide services to DES program recipients.

7.

Defines
applicant.

8.

Becomes effective on the general effective date

Amendments Adopted by the
House of Representatives

�

Adopted the strike-everything amendment relating to DES provider
credentialing.

House Action

HHS��������������� 3/23/26����� DPA/SE��� 11-0-0-1

3
rd
Read��������� 4/21/26����������������������� 54-1-4-0-1

Prepared by Senate Research

April 21, 2026

MM/hk

Current Bill Text

SB1172 - 572R - H Ver

House Engrossed
Senate Bill

DCS;
intake hotline; multiple reports

(now: deficiencies;
denial; credentialing)

State of Arizona

Senate

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

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