After Arizona lawmakers voted to rebuke the Department of Child Safety on Tuesday, there is a growing outcry against Director Greg McKay. McKay was appointed by Governor Doug Ducey in February.
At the time of his appointment many questioned his qualifications. After he failed to appear before the lawmakers on Tuesday, many believe that not only does he lack the qualifications; he lacks the strength of character needed to lead reform efforts.
According to the Capitol Times, “lawmakers also noted Director Greg McKay’s absence at the meeting. The last time the head of DCS stood before the committee in September, he faced a barrage of tough questions, particularly about the agency’s struggles to close the backlog of inactive cases – cases that haven’t but update for at least 60 days – despite tens of millions of dollars in new funding appropriated by the Legislature to do just that.”
DCS has not only failed to close the backlog of cases, that backlog has grown.
Governor Ducey replaced turnaround specialist, Charles Flanagan, with McKay. Flanagan had been head of the state’s juvenile corrections department before being chosen by former Governor Jan Brewer to run the new child safety agency.
The Capitol Times reported that “there is a roughly 33 percent turnover rate among case-carrying employees at DCS, a rate that has been continuing for several years, and that officials are working on methods to retain their current workers. DCS was down to 930 caseworkers as of Dec. 2, according to the report, a decline of 95 employees since June 30.”
Shortly after being appointed to the DCS job, McKay described himself as a “grunt” who’s never led an organization. At the time, he said things would get worse at the department before they got better.
His prescience does not likely improve the lots of the children and parents whose lives depend on competence.