Arizona to set up new child-welfare agency after abuse scandal

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Arizona to set up new child-welfare agency after abuse scandal

By David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - Arizona lawmakers created a new child-welfare agency in a special session on Thursday, providing an extra $60 million to improve a scandal-ridden system that last year was found to have ignored nearly 6,600 reports of abuse and neglect.     Legislators from the state Senate and House of Representatives approved two bills to transform the beleaguered existing agency into a cabinet-level organization, bolstered by additional caseworkers and investigators, to focus on child safety.     “This legislation lays the foundation for a new agency dedicated to keeping children safe,” said Representative Kate Brophy McGee, a Republican who worked on the bills. “We are finally here for you,” she said.     The measures now go to Republican Governor Jan Brewer, who called lawmakers into session last week to focus on rebuilding the state's child welfare system after officials discovered last November that thousands of hotline calls reporting abuse and neglect were never investigated.

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