PHOENIX – The head of Arizona's new child welfare agency says he fired five senior employees who orchestrated a plan that led to more than 6,500 abuse and neglect cases being closed without investigations.
Charles Flanagan says an additional senior manager at the agency that formerly oversaw Child Protective Services was also fired Wednesday.
Flanagan briefed reporters after state police completed an investigation into what led to reports phoned into a state child abuse and neglect hotline not being investigated. November's discovery of the cases led Gov. Jan Brewer to pull CPS from its parent agency and create a cabinet level post led by Flanagan.
He says the five upper level managers and administrators he fired were responsible for creating and overseeing the case closings in violation of state laws.
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