Cuts threaten Arizona parent-child visitations, agencies fear

Agencies that oversee visitations and help reunite foster children with their parents are being scrutinized in a statewide check on overspending.

Some agencies were spending too much on overhead costs, said Arizona Department of Child Safety Director Greg McKay, with employees receiving gym memberships and other perks while draining money he said could be going to other services.

But providers like Susie Huhn, executive director of Casa de los Niños, and Bob Heslinga, executive director of Aviva Children’s Services, said what McKay sees as an inflated hourly rate is reasonable for these cases. They say McKay is pushing for cuts before meeting with professionals to establish standards and best practices.

The national hourly average for a supervised visitation is $80 — the same as Arizona’s average, Huhn said.

Read more: http://tucson.com/news/local/cuts-threaten-arizona-parent-child-visitations-agencies-fear/article_4dd7f9f8-15d2-54ad-bf6b-d5248411f668.html