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SB1174 - 572R - H Ver
House Engrossed
Senate Bill
DCS; intake hotline:
case history
State of Arizona
Senate
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
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.