Fatality Reviews
Up to 80% of children killed in their homes were already known to authorities who failed to protect them. The death of a child already on the radar of child protective services is a preventable failure. Our reforms require independent, transparent reviews of every child fatality and near-fatality to identify system failures and strengthen safety.
April 28, 2026News & Press ReleaseAs Oregon reverses years of progress on child fatalities and Washington reviews find most cases involved families already known to CPS, a new report from Professor Sarah Font calls for federal guidance under [...]
April 28, 2026Research & ReportsThe federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act provides a minimum definition of child maltreatment that includes imminent risk of serious harm. Yet, in practice, many state and county child welfare jurisdictions impose [...]
November 17, 2025News & Press ReleaseAnaiah Walker entered the Arizona foster care system at age 13. Before her 14th birthday, she was trafficked by adults posing as teenagers online. By age 15, she ran away from several group [...]
April 4, 2024News & Press ReleaseArizona Governor Katie Hobbs signed a groundbreaking reform created by the Center for the Rights of Abused Children to improve transparency and oversight of the Department of Child Safety (DCS).
February 13, 2024Events & TestimonySenate Bill 1235 creates the Child Safety Fatality and Near Fatality Review Team, empaneled with Department of Child Safety staff and external, independent reviewers. The bill also grants power to the joint legislative [...]
June 5, 2023Op-Eds & CommentaryState lawmakers promised transparency and accountability when they created the Department of Child Safety, or DCS. But has it lived up to those promises?
February 17, 2023Op-Eds & CommentaryArizona Senate Bill 1252, championed by Sen. Janae Shamp, R-Surprise, recognizes deaths of children are preventable, and we desperately need to chart a path toward change...
April 27, 2022News & Press ReleaseArizona Governor Doug Ducey has signed into law Senate Bills 1076 & 1307, passed unanimously by the Arizona legislature & sponsored by Senator Nancy Barto.
February 11, 2022News & Press ReleaseWarning signs missed by the DCS that could have prevented Chaskah Davis Smith's murder. Scottsdale grandmother served warrant.
February 3, 2022News & Press ReleaseIt is estimated that roughly half of all children abused to death across the country are missed by investigative authorities.