Investigations
When should a present danger decision be documented?
What is ...
Best practice is by end of day on the same day the child was seen/assessed. Policy requires within 48 hours.
At minimal what two documents need to be uploaded into Guardian before closing an assessment?
What is ...
Notice of Duty to inform and the signed Findings Letter.
What service requests are required prior to case closure when a Guardianship has been granted?
What is ...
Guardianship Subsidy Service Request and Guardianship Annual Review Service Request.
How often should a Family Locate be completed?
What is ...
Policy states no less than once every 6 months, Best Practice is as needed to locate family including grandparents, great-grandparents, adult siblings, parents and persons who have a significant relationship with the child.
Do ARMS (Arizona Random Moment Sample) help generate money for the department?
What is ...
Yes, it’s very important that ARMS get completed and that you accurately report what task you are completing as all case management task help generate money in 2025 for the department.
When should the Joint Investigations tab be filled out?
What is ...
When there is a criminal conduct allegation or any other time the police are involved including law enforcement contacting the Department or the Department contacting law enforcement.
How timely should the JI tab be completed after contact with Law Enforcement?
What is ...
Best practice is by the end of the day on the same day the child was seen/assessed. The same as documenting present danger.
When you get an ongoing case, what is the first thing you should do before going out to meet the family and after completing the transfer dialogue?
What is ...
Read the assessment.
Is there a Child Contact note template in policy?
What is ...
Yes, form DCS-1592A in policy Chapter 3: Section 4.
If you back up into a pole in a state vehicle, with no injuries, do you have to call the police?
What is ...
Yes, if they refuse to come out you will need to ask for the incident report number. Any sort of accident in a state vehicle regardless of injuries or other cars involved need a police report for the department’s records.
If Law Enforcement does not agree with the department, does the JI tab still get completed?
What is ...
Yes, regardless of the outcome of Law Enforcements involvement or agreement with the department, the JI tab stills needs to be completed timely.
Is there any document in policy that helps to organize what task a specialist completed to be able to staff an unable to locate?
What is ...
Yes. Chapter 2: Section 1 – Disposition of Reports and Initial Response. Locating Child victim and Family for Investigations.
Is it required to enter Reasonable Effort Findings on existing QRTP Motions?
What is ...
Yes, once the judge has made a finding on the QRTP motion, those findings need to be entered into Guardian.
What actually counts as Parent monthly engagement?
What is ...
Face to face contact with the parents. This is required by case managers and is part of our Federal PIP.
Does the department have resources for staff if they are feeling overwhelmed or need support outside of their unit or direct supervisor?
What is ...
Yes, the Department has two programs; Peer Workforce Resilience (WFR) and Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that offers 12 sessions per topic. Please contact Brooke Soltero if you have questions.
What qualifies as an unable to locate?
What is ...
Being unable to locate ALL children in the home of maltreatment or that frequent the home of maltreatment.
How quickly should you respond to a Private Dependency Petition (PDP)?
What is ...
Typically, no less than 48 hours from when it gets assigned. This can vary depending on the court date or child safety concerns.
Should the note type “child contact” be used in the assessment, in the case, or both?
What is ...
The note type “Child Contact” should only be used in the case, unless the child has been removed and the investigator is completing the first child contact after removal. That is the only time it should be utilized in an assessment as a note type.
Do you need to hold a BID meeting for a child that you file an In-Home Dependency on?
What is ...
No, ESSA/BID only applies to children in out of home care/foster care.
What is the most recent reported (July 2025) number of children in out-of-home care?
What is ...
As of July 2025 there were 7,289 children in OOH care, the department’s lowest number of children in OOH care since 2008. In 2016 there were 18,657 children in OOH care, that is a 53% reduction.
What actions should you take when receiving a private dependency petition?
What is ...
Contacting all the parties, making in person attempts, making locate efforts for alleged missing parents
When should allegations findings be documented into Guardian?
What is ...
At the 45-day mark.
Why is behavioral health transition planning important and why is immediate documentation necessary?
What is ...
Changes happen very quickly for our youth, plans and placement change quickly and lack of documentation can create barriers for anyone that is not the case manager trying to work the case (AHIT, on-call, management).
Which clinical note determines that an In-Home Case has been transferred timely?
What is ...
The LAST clinical note entered, and it should be the Information Collection note that determines if we have a safe/unsafe child, services and oversight for the family. This is a great opportunity for case managers to be accountability partners to their supervisors.
Has our region been nominated for the “Quality Practice – Quality Outcomes” series?
What is ...
Yes, the story of Mario!!! This includes are staff from the Casa Grande office (Ivan Garcia Hernandez and Veronica Morales)