by Matthew Holloway | Jan 11, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
A report released by the Arizona Child Fatality Review Team (CFRT) has generated severe backlash from Arizona State Representatives Quang Nguyen and Selina Bliss, who serve as Chair and Vice-Chair of the House Judiciary Committee. The backlash came after the CFRT made the blatant unconstitutional recommendation to “remove all firearms in households with children,” claiming that “the presence of firearms in a household increases the risk of suicide among adolescents.”
According to a press release from the Arizona House of Representatives, Reps. Nguyen and Bliss penned a letter to Jennie Cunico, Cabinet Executive Officer of the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS), voicing in the strongest possible terms their objections to the CFRT’s report.
In their letter, Nguyen and Bliss wrote:
“We are appalled that the CFRT, speaking on behalf of the Arizona Department of Health Services, is actually advocating for stripping Arizonans of their Second Amendment rights in their own homes. This radical proposal is reminiscent of New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s 2023 gun control order, which attempted to prohibit carrying of firearms in public for self-defense. You may recall that Governor Grisham’s order—accurately characterized as ‘insanely unconstitutional’ and ‘outrageous’—was swiftly blocked in court.
“The CFRT’s ‘do something’ approach to child-fatality legislation would not only violate the constitutional rights of millions of Arizonans; it is also irrational from a policy perspective. The CFRT’s Report notes that 31 children drowned in 2023 and that the majority of these deaths occurred in pools and hot tubs. Yet the CFRT does not recommend the elimination of pools and hot tubs. Instead, the CFRT advocates for common-sense ideas: ‘close, constant supervision of children when around water, increased availability and affordability of swim lessons for children, and proper pool enclosures.’
“Effective policy solutions—even for problems that are difficult and complex—must be designed to fully protect constitutional rights and liberties. We urge you to direct the CFRT to reconsider its unjustified attack on the Second Amendment and amend its Report.”
“Proposals to strip citizens of their firearms are not only unconstitutional but also lack common sense,” Nguyen explained. “While the report suggests reasonable safety measures for other risks, such as drowning, the CFRT overreaches by advocating for the elimination of firearms entirely from homes with children.”
“Our state should focus on education and safe practices, not on extreme measures that undermine individual liberties,” Representative Bliss agreed. “We stand firm in defending the Second Amendment rights of Arizona families.”
In a later post to X, Nguyen acknowledged an op-ed from AZCentral’s Laurie Roberts criticizing him for his stance writing, “Anytime Roberts writes about my work negatively, I know I’m doing the right thing. I’m very sure she’s okay with abortion of innocent children.”
Roberts suggested the report’s call to remove guns from Arizona homes does not violate the Constitution and “goes on to recommend that ‘parents of adolescents should remove all guns from their homes, especially if there is a history of mental health issues or substance abuse issues.’ This because more children are dying by suicide, with close to half killing themselves with guns.”
However, as the Representatives point out, the language explicitly used by the report is as follows:
“Since the CFRP determined that access to guns was the biggest risk factor for firearm deaths, CFRP believes that the most effective way to prevent firearm-related deaths in children is to remove all firearms in households with children because the presence of firearms in a household increases the risk of suicide among adolescents.”
The recommendation of the CFRT is direct, unambiguous, and lacks the nuance suggested by the local columnist.
The CFRT is comprised mostly of appointees nominated by the state officers who were in turn appointed or nominated by Democrats Governor Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Staff Reporter | Dec 5, 2024 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
The Arizona Department of Health Services (AZDHS) called for the removal of guns from all homes with children.
AZDHS made the recommendation for family homes to have their firearms removed in their latest Arizona Child Fatality Review Program (CFRP) report, released last month. This annual report is submitted to the governor and leaders of both the House and Senate for the purpose of guiding policy and even influencing state intervention.
“CFRP believes that the most effective way to prevent firearm-related deaths in children is to remove all firearms in households with children because the presence of firearms in a household increases the risk of suicide among adolescents,” stated the opening letter of the report. “Parents of all adolescents should remove all guns from their homes, especially if there is a history of mental health issues or substance use issues. In addition, CFRP recommends that all gun owners should practice safe storage of their firearms by keeping guns unloaded and locked in a safe separate from the ammunition.”
The report recommended that the state should require mental health screening and gun safety training as prerequisites to purchasing firearms, license and track all firearms, and punish people for failing to report stolen firearms.
The report also recommended that policy makers, participating agencies, and schools launch public awareness campaigns advising the removal of all firearms from their households.
According to that report, nearly 70 minors died from preventable firearm injuries last year. Of those deaths, 44 percent (30 deaths) were suicides. 75 percent occurred in children ages 15-17 years, and 84 percent of firearm injury deaths were among males.
The leading risk factors of firearm injury deaths were: access to firearms (60 percent), CPS history with the family (59 percent), substance use (56 percent), history of violence or trauma (46 percent), and an unlocked firearm (40 percent).
Firearms were not the leading cause of preventable deaths for Arizona minors.
The top leading cause of preventable deaths among minors occurred from motor vehicle crashes (81 deaths, 20 percent), followed by firearm injury (68 deaths, 16 percent), then suffocation (52 deaths, 13 percent), poisoning (34 deaths, eight percent), and drowning (31 deaths, seven percent).
Founding member and chairwoman Mary Rimsza authored the opening letter which recommended the total removal of guns from homes with children, and the unloading and locking up of guns in all other homes.
Rimsza is a pediatrician, fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, professor of pediatrics at Mayo Graduate School of Medicine, and research professor of Health Management and Policy at Arizona State University.
Rimsza advocated for mandatory masking and vaccinations throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in the media while serving as the advocacy committee chair for the Arizona chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
According to her X profile, Rimsza has also advocated for eating less meat and indicated her support for Democrats across the board, expressing avid support for Joe Biden’s presidential candidacy and opposition to the reelection of Donald Trump in 2020.
In a separate X profile, Rimsza shared a statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics claiming that racism impacts the physical health of children.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Nov 16, 2024 | Education, News
By Staff Reporter |
Arizona schools will be receiving a supply of overdose kits to address the increased impact of drugs on students.
The Arizona Department of Emergency & Military Affairs (DEMA) began delivering over 16,000 Narcan anti-overdose kits to schools on Wednesday. The Arizona Department of Education (AZED) oversaw the initial deliveries across all 15 counties.
In a press release, Superintendent Tom Horne said these kits were a lifesaving preventative to the increased presence of illicit substances in the state.
“Lives will be saved because these kits will be in schools throughout Arizona,” said Horne. “The STOP-IT Task Force has done incredible work to address the Fentanyl crisis among school-aged children and this is a major step to protecting the lives of students and raising awareness of this terrible scourge.”
The Narcan kit deliveries are part of AZED’s Overdose Preparedness & Intelligence Taskforce (STOP-IT), a new task force established this year to address the growing opioid epidemic. The idea for placing kits in schools came out of a meeting back in May.
The Arizona Department of Health Services (AZDHS) provided the Narcan kits at no cost to the state, and the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) will provide training.
The kits come with flyers on training resources, information on county health agency partners, an announcement of an upcoming comprehensive STOP-IT Toolkit release, and a QR code taking the user to real-time training on Naloxone Resources from AHCCCS.
STOP-IT co-chairs are Holly Geyer from the Mayo Clinic and Mike Kurtenbach with AZED, leading over 60 representatives across various government agencies, schools, healthcare entities, law enforcement, and other organizations.
Geyer credited the initiative’s success to the collaborative strengths of Arizona agencies in Thursday’s press release.
“The STOP-IT naloxone distribution initiative could not have materialized without the unprecedented collaboration between the Department of Education, the Department of Health, AHCCCS and the National Guard,” said Geyer. “The representatives appointed through these agencies proved themselves strategic problem solvers who prioritized the mission and produced outcomes that far exceeded the taskforce’s original targets. Because of their resolve, we are proud to offer schools more than just naloxone. We can offer confidence in the safety of our school campuses and parental peace of mind.”
DEMA director Kerry Muehlenbeck said that their team’s logistical support for tackling drug overdose incidents ensured a better approach to their ultimate goal of reducing drug demand.
“Through this multi-agency initiative, we build stronger communities and support wellness in our future generations,” said Muehlenbeck.
Schools signed up for Narcan kits through the AZED’s online form, with the permission of their district or charter approval first. Further information about the kit distribution and application was submitted in a memo sent to schools across the state last month.
Per AZED, these overdose kits will be continually replenished to ensure schools’ continued ability to handle opioid emergencies.
Arizona reported over 1,900 opioid-related deaths and over 4,000 overdoses last year. 26 of those opioid-related deaths were among minors (those under the age of 17).
So far this year, AZDHS has recorded over 3,200 non-fatal opioid overdoses and over 1,000 confirmed opioid deaths. The total deaths among minors for this year amount to less than 10.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Staff Reporter | Aug 20, 2024 | News
By Staff Reporter |
The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) is proposing to put a strict limit on childcare enrollment, but a policy group says that’s illegal.
The Goldwater Institute advised ADHS in a letter that such a cap on childcare facilities (preschools, daycares, and day camps, for example) would violate statutory requirements on agency rulemaking.
Arizona law restricts agencies from making any rules that exceed authorized subject matter areas, that supplement a more specific grant of rulemaking authority, and that aren’t specifically authorized by statute.
The Goldwater Institute argued that the proposal to impose a maximum group size on childcare facilities constitutes an authority that ADHS doesn’t possess within their regulatory powers.
“[A]n across-the-board cap on ‘group size,’ independent of any relevant considerations such as child-adult ratio, is not a regulation of ‘staffing per number and age groups of children’ [per their regulatory authority] and it is not justified by any other provision in the statute,” said the Goldwater Institute.
The organization also predicted in its letter that such a proposal would result in a greater burden on childcare facilities and a greater cost for families, in addition to reducing overall childcare availability.
The proposal concerns amendments to two rules pertaining to staff-to-children ratios: 9-5-404 and 9-5-726. The amendment adds on limitations of group size per age group.
Group size limitations begin small with younger children and expand as the ages rise: infants are limited to 10 in a group; one-year-old children are limited to 12 in a group; two-year-old children are limited to 16 in a group; three-year-old children are limited to 26 in a group; four-year-old children are limited to 30 in a group; and both five-year-old children and school-age children are limited to 40 in a group.
The amendments also struck provisions allowing volunteers to be counted as staff in staff-to-children ratios and restricting student aides or qualified teacher caregiver aides from being counted as staff. Also replaced were any instances of staff as “caregivers,” instead renaming them as “child educators.”
In a press release, Goldwater Institute staff attorney John Thorpe said the group size restrictions would not only be an exercise of authority beyond ADHS’ scope, it would serve to restrict families’ critical access to childcare facilities. Thorpe marked the proposal as another example of “ill-informed, heavy-handed bureaucratic regulation” within the state and nationwide.
“Imposing an arbitrary cap on the number of children allowed in a space — regardless of the size of the space, nature of the activity, or number of adults supervising — makes no sense,” stated Thorpe. “It’s especially pernicious during a childcare shortage, as it will force good preschools and childcare facilities to turn away families they’re perfectly equipped to serve for no other reason than an irrational bureaucratic requirement.”
Last December, a report by the Council for Strong America estimated that Arizona lost close to $5 billion annually in earnings, productivity, and revenue due to lack of adequate childcare. Over half of responding parents said they were late for work, leaving work early, missing days of work, or low in their productivity at work due to their childcare struggles.
Nearly 20 percent reported having been let go or fired from their work related to those struggles.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
by Elizabeth Troutman | Mar 9, 2024 | News
By Elizabeth Troutman |
Dr. Eugene Livar will serve as Arizona’s first Chief Heat Officer, the state Department of Health announced Wednesday. The position is part of Gov. Katie Hobbs’ Extreme Heat Preparedness Plan.
“I’m excited to take on this role and this important work to make sure Arizona is prepared as possible for this upcoming heat season and beyond,” Livar said.
Hobbs, a Democrat, has named addressing extreme heat in Arizona as one of her most important initiatives. The preparedness plan will involve several state agencies along with the Governor’s Office of Resiliency.
Arizona Republicans have criticized Hobbs for wasting government funding on paying unnecessary employees.
“If Hobbs really cared about making AZ “resilient,” she would start by helping Arizonans keep more $$ in their wallets,” the American Free Enterprise Club said on Twitter. “Instead, she’s flexing her power as governor to create a multi-million-dollar program so her political friends can do phony baloney jobs.”
Livar will oversee the implementation of the plan and work to coordinate partnerships between the state, county health departments, local municipalities, communities, the private sector, and community-based organizations, according to a news release.
“ADHS is proud to play a role in meeting this moment and working to fix a complex problem facing Arizonans and we will handle this responsibility with the care it deserves and in partnership with the Governor’s Office of Resiliency Director Maren Mahoney,” said Jennie Cunico, ADHS Cabinet Executive Officer.
The health department under Hobbs also hired a heat relief coordinator to serve as the statewide point-of-contact for county coordinators and develop training for community navigators focused on improving access to human service providers.
Livar has been part of the ADHS team since 2012. He previously served as the assistant director for public health preparedness and steered the development of the ADHS heat preparedness recommendations, which contributed to the state’s heat plan.
Former legislator and current candidate for Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Michelle Ugenti-Rita said the chief heat officer position sounds like a joke.
“This is an all time level of absurdity – a “chief heat officer,” she said. “It has to be a joke…we live in the DESERT.”
Merissa Hamilton, Republican politician and executive director of Save Arizona, said Hobbs’ agenda must be rejected.
“Democrats manufacture crises for their degrowth death cult,” she tweeted. “We must firmly reject this agenda!”
Elizabeth Troutman is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send her news tips using this link.
