Grace Neal Parkway and Bank Street are located in the northern Kingman area partially outside of the Kingman city limits. This report discusses of creating a new arterial roadway providing safety and convenience for vehicular traffic and pedestrians. Although Grace Neal is referred to as a parkway, its designation for design is arterial.

It was decided to revise the 1980 Havasu area study, since the area had changed so much. The members felt that to retain some control over the growth a revised area plan was needed and decided to have the area covered to be just the 72 square miles of the Desert Hills Fire District, rather than the whole of the unincorporated Lake Havasu Area north of the City.

In fiscal year 2013, the Department paid at least $14.6 million for transportation services for child protective services clients. However, the Department does not use performance measurement to manage and evaluate these services, including overseeing contracted transportation providers. The Department should develop and implement a performance measurement system to evaluate these services and ensure that this system provides the necessary data to evaluate the appropriateness and cost-effectiveness of contracting for these services. In addition, although the Department has implemented some procedures to help ensure proper payments to transportation providers for these services, additional steps would help address internal control deficiencies.

The best setting for abused or neglected children who are removed from their homes is a family-based setting, such as with a relative or in licensed foster care. Because it is not family-based, congregate care, such as emergency shelters, group homes, and residential treatment centers, is the least preferred placement option. However, the number of Arizona children and the length of time they are in congregate care has increased and as a result, the costs for this placement type nearly doubled between fiscal years 2009 and 2013. Contributing to the increase in congregate care use is an inadequate supply of foster care homes; various state practices, including some related to permanency goals and activities; and inadequate access to behavioral health services. Although the Arizona Department of Child Safety has taken some steps to reduce the use of congregate care, it should consider other states’ experiences to identify multiple strategies for reducing its use.

The Drug Endangered Children Program has continued to address effectively the needs of children found within meth lab environments and to prosecute those responsible for their suffering. Funding provided by the Governor’s Office of Children, Youth and Families along with assistance from collaborative partners have allowed the Attorney General’s Office to complete key accomplishments.

One goal of the SDCP was to obtain a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act to enable incidental take of species protected by the ESA in the course of development in Pima County. This report provides the county with the framework to go forward and further its analysis of the final funding costs for a Section 10 Permit.

Arizona must commit to making child abuse prevention an integral part of our child welfare system and community action. To make this a reality, we must link effective public and private programs to form a true prevention network. This plan shines a light on how - together - we can assure more of our children are
safe and healthy, and their parents get help early, before the damage is done.