This document provides information on the types of activities supported and the categories or characteristics of individuals served under the provisions of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, Public Law 97-35, Subtitle C - Block Grants for Social Services, which amends Title XX of the Social Security Act. The Arizona Department of Economic Security under the statutory provisions of the law administers the Arizona Social Services Block Grant Plan. The program period covered corresponds to the State Fiscal Year, which begins on July 1, and ends June 30. State Fiscal Year overlaps portions of previous Federal Fiscal Year, which runs from October 1 through September 30.

Although there are several adoption agencies in Arizona, the Department of Economic Security is the largest. Almost without exception, the children placed by DES have special needs; that is, they may be older or have physical or emotional handicaps. The information presented here is based on DES’ statewide adoption program. This pamphlet has been prepared to answer some of the most frequently asked questions about adoption.

Arizona physicians with expertise in prenatal substance abuse, Child Protective Services, Arizona Department of Health Services, Indian Health Services, and hospital social services have come together to develop a consistent approach to identifying substance-exposed newborns. Based on extensive medical literature review, review of other state guidelines, and input from Arizona hospital newborn programs, this committee drafted these guidelines.

Prior to developing and approving new ordinances that would further regulate sex- offender distance restrictions and clustering, the Phoenix City Council approved a study to examine the nature and impact of sex-offender clustering. Their overall goal was to use the study to fill in some important knowledge gaps about the issue of sex-offender residential clustering in order to inform the development of effective policy. To examine this issue on behalf of the city council, we relied on a multi-methodological research design. We wanted to incorporate information from several different points of view, giving policy makers a more comprehensive perspective from which to inform their decision making. For this study, we relied on four resources: official police data, offender interview data, citizen survey data, and key stakeholder interview data.

The general goal of this report was to collect data on citizens’ needs for information about neighborhood crime patterns and trends, terrorism, and public emergency planning and response in the western region of the Phoenix metropolitan area. There was particular interest in obtaining citizen feedback on data-sharing questions related to terrorism prevention.

The Greater Phoenix Blue Chip provides quarterly consensus projections on general economic indicators and key construction measures from economists and real estate analysts and executives in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The construction forecasts are compiled in cooperation with Elliott D. Pollack and Company, a leading economic and real estate consulting firm based in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The South Mountains, located on the southern edge of the City of Phoenix, Arizona, have long been considered a sacred place to Native Americans. Numerous trails, many of which are associated with ancient rock art and broken pottery, lead from the base of the mountains into the upper reaches of the canyons. The presence of this rock art and associated artifacts indicates that the trails were created by the Hohokam people, an artistic and intelligent culture. The archaeology and rock art of the South Mountains are currently threatened because of development along the edge of the mountains. Some of the incredible rock art has been documented over the past four decades, but no comprehensive surveys have been undertaken. Consequently, the City of Phoenix collaborated with the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University to undertake a long-term program to survey and record rock art within its cultural and natural contexts.

Concern has been expressed that mesquite bosques are disappearing or diminishing in quality, and that the survival of the mesquite mouse is consequently threatened. This study, funded by a grant from the Arizona Heritage Fund to the Pima County Regional Flood Control District, investigated the current distribution of the mesquite mouse by reviewing historical records from museum specimens, examining existing potential habitat at historic locations of the species and elsewhere in the county, and conducting a live-trapping study at 19 sites representing a range of ecological communities with mesquite as a major component.