SB1174 • 2026

DCS; intake hotline; case history

SB1174 - DCS; intake hotline; case history

Children Labor Parental Rights

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: Carine Werner, Hildy Angius, Cesar Aguilar, Matt Gress
Last action: 2026-06-19
Official status: Chapter 153
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The effective date is listed as January 1, 2027 in the fact sheet summary but December 31, 2026 (meaning effective immediately after that date) in Section 2 of the bill text; both indicate early 2027 implementation.

SB1174: Changes to the Child Safety Hotline and Case History

This law requires Arizona's child safety hotline to show a full history of past calls for children and their siblings, review recent call details from the last 90 days, assign experienced staff to repeat cases involving four or more reports in one year, and share specific abuse allegations with courts handling dependency cases.

What This Bill Does

Requires the Department of Child Safety (DCS) hotline system to create a single report showing all prior calls or investigations involving a child and that child's siblings.
Mandates that hotline workers read the details of every call made about a specific child within the last 90 days when receiving a new call.
Allows workers to use information from past calls in the last 90 days, even if those calls did not result in an official report, to decide if a new allegation meets reporting criteria.
Requires DCS to assign investigations involving four or more reports against the same caregiver within one year to a specialist with at least two years of experience or forensic training.
Orders DCS to share hotline calls alleging abuse or neglect with the court handling dependency cases for those children.

Who It Names or Affects

The Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) and its central intake hotline workers.
Children who are subjects of new or past reports of suspected abuse or neglect.
Caregivers against whom four or more reports have been filed within a year.
Courts that manage child dependency cases.

Terms To Know

DCS Report: An official document created by the Department of Child Safety when an allegation meets specific criteria for abuse or neglect investigation.
Dependency Action: A legal case in court where a child is under state supervision because they cannot safely live with their parents or guardians.

Limits and Unknowns

The law does not state the exact cost to update the computer systems needed to show full case histories.
Investigations involving criminal conduct follow different rules than standard DCS reports.
No report is required if the alleged abuse happened more than three years ago and there are no signs of current danger.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HOUSE - Health & Human Services (Adopted)

Adopted

Plain English: This amendment requires Arizona Department of Child Safety hotline workers to quickly show a single report with the full history of past calls for a child and their siblings, review recent call details from the last 90 days before making decisions, assign experienced specialists to cases involving repeat reports against caregivers, and share new abuse allegations with courts handling dependency cases.

Hotline workers must create one report that shows all previous hotline calls or investigations for a child and their siblings.
Workers are required to read the details of every call made about a specific child in the last 90 days before deciding if a new case should be opened.
If four or more reports come in within a year against the same caregiver, an experienced specialist with at least two years on the job must handle the investigation.
The department must tell the court handling a dependency case about any new hotline calls alleging abuse for that child.

The official text provided is cut off in the middle of Section J, so details about what specific information must be included in DCS reports are incomplete.
Some sections labeled with brackets indicate they were removed from the bill during this amendment process.

HOUSE - Health & Human Services (Proposed)

Proposed

Plain English: This amendment requires Arizona Department of Child Safety hotline workers to quickly show a single report with the full history of a child and their siblings from past calls or investigations.

Hotline workers must create one clear report that shows all previous abuse reports for a specific child and their brothers or sisters.
Workers are required to read through every call made about a child in the last 90 days before making decisions on new cases.
If four or more abuse reports happen against the same caregiver within one year, an experienced specialist must handle the investigation.
The department must share hotline calls with judges if they involve children who are already part of court dependency cases.

The official text provided is cut off at the end and does not show all details about what information must be included in reports.
Some parts of the amendment use capital letters to highlight new rules, but the full context for every change may depend on other sections of the law.

SENATE - Health and Human Services (Adopted)

Adopted

Plain English: This amendment requires Department of Child Safety hotline workers to quickly show the full history of a child and their siblings in one report and review past calls from the last ninety days before deciding on an investigation.

Hotline workers must create a single report that shows the entire history of prior abuse or neglect for both the child and their siblings.
Workers are required to read the details of every hotline call made about a specific child within the previous ninety days, instead of just sixty days.
The law clarifies that workers can look at calls from the past three months (ninety days) even if those earlier calls did not result in an official report.

The provided text is cut off near the end, so it does not show all details about what information must be included in a DCS report.
Some legal terms like 'standardized hotline assessment tools' are mentioned but their specific contents or methods are not explained in this amendment.

SENATE - Health and Human Services (Proposed)

Proposed

Plain English: This amendment requires Department of Child Safety hotline workers to quickly show a single report with the full history of abuse calls for a child and their siblings, while also changing how far back they must review past call records.

Hotline workers must create one clear report that shows all previous hotline calls or investigations involving a specific child and their brothers or sisters.
Workers are required to read the details of every phone call made about a child within the last ninety days instead of just sixty days.
The law now allows workers to look at past calls from the last three months that did not result in an official report when deciding if a new allegation needs action.

The provided text is cut off near the end, so it does not show all details about what information must be included in reports.
Some parts of the amendment use brackets to show different time periods (like sixty vs. ninety days), which means the final rule might change before becoming law.

Bill History

2026-06-10 Senate
Governor signed
2026-06-09 Senate
Senate passed
2026-06-09 Senate
Senate passed
2026-04-21 Senate
Senate minority caucus
2026-04-16 Senate
Transmitted to Senate
2026-04-16 House
House third read passed
2026-04-09 House
House committee of the whole
2026-03-31 House
House minority caucus
2026-03-31 House
House majority caucus
2026-03-09 House
House second read
2026-03-05 House
House Rules: C&P
2026-03-05 House
House Health & Human Services: DPA
2026-03-05 House
House first read
2026-02-24 House
Transmitted to House
2026-02-24 Senate
Senate third read passed
2026-02-24 Senate
Senate committee of the whole
2026-02-03 Senate
Senate minority caucus
2026-02-03 Senate
Senate majority caucus
2026-01-21 Senate
Senate second read
2026-01-20 Senate
Senate Rules: PFC
2026-01-20 Senate
Senate Health and Human Services: DPA
2026-01-20 Senate
Senate first read

Official Summary Text

SB1174 - 572R - Senate Fact Sheet

Assigned to
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PASSED BY HOUSE

ARIZONA STATE SENATE

Fifty-Seventh
Legislature, Second Regular Session

AMENDED

FACT SHEET FOR
S.B. 1174

DCS; intake
hotline: case history

Purpose

Effective
January 1, 2027, requires the Department of Child Safety (DCS) central intake
hotline to generate a single report that includes the entire history of a child
and the child's siblings who have been the subject of prior hotline calls or
DCS investigations for use in determining if a new allegation meets report
criteria and requires DCS to assign investigations involving repeated reports
of abuse or neglect by the same caregiver to an experienced or forensically
trained child safety specialist.

Background

DCS is
responsible for investigating reports of abuse and neglect relating to children
and coordinating services to maintain permanency on behalf of the child,
strengthening the family and providing prevention, intervention and treatment
services. 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. ��
8-451

and
8-455
).

The Joint Legislative Budget Committee estimates that S.B. 1174 would
result in additional IT costs to update DCS�s case management system, which
does not currently aggregate prior calls into a single report, but cannot
estimate the fiscal impact without agency input (
JLBC
fiscal note
).

Provisions

Requires the DCS central intake hotline to quickly and efficiently show,
in a single report, the entire history of a child and the child's siblings who
have been the subject of prior hotline calls or DCS investigations.

Requires hotline workers, upon receipt of a call, to review the
narrative of every call received for that child in the prior

90 days.

Requires hotline workers to review calls from the hotline that were
received in the previous 90 days

that did not meet
the criteria for a DCS report and allows the information to be used when
determining if a new allegation meets the criteria.

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.

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.

Makes technical and conforming changes.

Becomes effective on January 1, 2027.

Amendments Adopted by Committee

Extends the period for review of a child's prior hotline call history
from 60 to 90 days.

Allows hotline workers to use information from calls received in the
previous 90 days, rather than three months, when determining if an allegation
meets the criteria for a DCS report.

Amendments Adopted by the
House of Representatives

Requires DCS to assign investigations involving repeated reports of
abuse or neglect by the same caregiver to an experienced or forensically
trained child safety specialist.

Requires
DCS to provide the court with jurisdiction with hotline reports alleging abuse
or neglect in child dependency cases.

Makes
technical and conforming changes.

Senate Action
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House
Action

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Prepared by Senate Research

April 16, 2026

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Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

Chapter 0153 - 572R - H Ver of SB1174

CORRECTED

House Engrossed
Senate Bill

DCS; intake hotline;
case history

State of Arizona

Senate

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

CHAPTER 153

SENATE BILL 1174

AN
ACT

amending section 8-455, arizona
revised statutes; relating to the department of child safety.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

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

Section 1. Section 8-455, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
8-455.

Centralized intake
hotline; purposes; report of possible crime; DCS report; standardized hotline
assessment tools; access to information; public awareness; definitions

A. The department shall operate and maintain a
centralized intake hotline to protect children by receiving at all times
communications concerning suspected abuse or neglect.� If a person communicates
suspected abuse or neglect to a department employee other than through the
hotline, the employee shall refer the person or communication to the hotline.

B. The hotline is the first step in the safety
assessment and investigation process and must be operated to:

1. Record communications made concerning suspected
abuse or neglect.

2. Immediately take steps necessary to identify and
locate prior communications and DCS reports related to the current
communication using the department's data system and the central registry
system of this state.

3. Quickly and efficiently provide information to a
law enforcement agency or prepare a DCS report as required by this section.

4. Determine the proper initial priority level of
investigation based on the report screening assessment and direct the DCS
report to the appropriate part of the department based on this determination.

5. Quickly and efficiently show in a
single report the entire history of a child and that child's siblings who have
been the subject of prior hotline calls or department
investigations. The hotline worker shall review the narrative of
every call received for that child from the previous
ninety
days.

C. If a communication provides a reason to believe
that a criminal offense has been committed and the communication does not meet
the criteria for a DCS report, the hotline worker shall immediately provide the
information to the appropriate law enforcement agency.

D. A hotline worker shall prepare a DCS report if
the identity or current location of the child victim, the child's family or the
person suspected of abuse or neglect is known or can be reasonably ascertained
and all of the following are alleged:

1. The suspected conduct would constitute abuse or
neglect. If the suspected conduct involves neglect as defined in section 8-201,
paragraph 25, subdivision (c) and a health professional determines that the
newborn infant was exposed prenatally to cannabis as defined in section 13-3401,
the department shall verify whether the mother is a qualifying patient as
defined in section 36-2801 and possesses a valid registry identification
card issued pursuant to section 36-2804.03.

2. The suspected victim of the conduct is under
eighteen years of age.

3. The suspected victim of the conduct is a resident
of or present in this state.

4. The person suspected of committing the abuse or
neglect is the parent, guardian or custodian of the victim or an adult member
of the victim's household.

E. A hotline worker shall prepare a DCS report if
the identity of the person who is suspected of abuse is an employee of a child
welfare agency and both of the following apply:

1. The child victim is placed with the
CHILD WELFARE
agency.

2. The
CHILD WELFARE
agency is
licensed by and contracted with the department.

f.

A hotline
worker shall review calls to the hotline that were received in the previous
Ninety days and that did not meet the criteria for a DCS report and
may use the information that is contained in prior hotline calls when making a
determination if an allegation meets the criteria for a DCS report.

F.
G.
Except
for criminal conduct allegations, the department is not required to prepare a
DCS report if all of the following apply:

1. The suspected conduct occurred more than three
years before the communication to the hotline.

2. There is no information or indication that a
child is currently being abused or neglected.

G.
H.
Investigations
of DCS reports shall be conducted as provided in section 8-456 except for
investigations containing allegations of criminal conduct, which shall be
conducted as provided in section 8-471.

H.
I.
The
department is not required to prepare a DCS report concerning alleged abuse or
neglect if the alleged act or acts occurred in a foreign country and the child
is in the custody of the federal government.

j. If the department receives four or
more reports of abuse or neglect in less than twelve months regarding the same
caregiver, the office that receives the report for investigation shall assign
the investigation to a child safety specialist who has at least two years'
experience or, if available, a child safety specialist who has advanced
forensic training.

k. If the hotline receives a call
that alleges the abuse or neglect of a child who is the subject of a dependency
action pursuant to article 8 of this chapter, the department shall disclose
those calls to the court that has jurisdiction over the child's dependency
action.

I.

l.
The department shall develop and train hotline
workers to use standardized hotline assessment tools to determine:

1. Whether the suspected conduct constitutes abuse
or neglect and the severity of the suspected abuse or neglect.

2. Whether the suspected abuse or neglect involves
criminal conduct, even if the communication does not result in the preparation
of a DCS report.

3. The appropriate investigative track for referral
based on the risk to the child's safety.

J.

m.
A DCS report must include, if available, all of
the following:

1. The name, address or contact information for the
person making the communication.

2. The name, address and other location or contact
information for the parent, guardian or custodian of the child or other adult
member of the child's household who is suspected of committing the abuse or
neglect.

3. The name, address and other location or contact
information of an employee of a child welfare agency who is suspected of
committing abuse if both of the following apply:

(a) The child victim is placed with the
CHILD WELFARE
agency.

(b) The
CHILD WELFARE
agency
is licensed by and contracted with the department.

4. The name, address and other location or contact
information for the child.

5. The nature and extent of the indications of the
child's abuse or neglect, including any indication of physical injury.

6. Any information regarding possible prior abuse or
neglect, including reference to any communication or DCS report involving the
child, the child's siblings or the person suspected of committing the abuse or
neglect.

K.

n.
Information gathered through the hotline must be
made available to an employee of the department in order to perform the
employee's duties. The office of child welfare investigations and the
inspections bureau must have immediate access to all records of the hotline.

L.

o.
A representative of the:

1. Office of child welfare investigations must be
embedded in the hotline to carry out the purposes of section 8-471.

2. Inspections bureau must be embedded in the
hotline to carry out the purposes of section 8-458.

M.

p.
The department shall publicize the availability
and the purposes of the centralized intake hotline.

N.

q.
For the purposes of this section:

1. "Centralized intake hotline"
or "hotline"
means the system developed pursuant to
this section regardless of the communication methods or technologies used to
implement the system.

2. "Criminal
offense" means an allegation of conduct against a child by a person other
than a parent, guardian or custodian of the child victim or another adult
member of the child's household that, if true, would constitute a felony
offense.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 2.
Effective date

Section 8-455, Arizona Revised
Statutes, as amended by this act, is effective from and after December 31,
2026.

APPROVED BY THE GOVERNOR JUNE 19, 2026.

FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE JUNE 22, 2026.