Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 1

Tims mifh BUSINESS NAFTA's (ltd 1AHH Steelers 29 Browns 9 49ers 44 Bears 15 SPORTS Suns beat Nuggets, 109-100 TRAVEL Ski resorts catering to families 7 Partly cloudy High 65 Low 43 Dtloils, li How Arizona fared FINAL CHASER Itttt Final Edition ErTOttJC $1.50 Copyright 1995, The Arizona Republic Sunday, January 8, 1995 Phoenix, Arizona 105th year, No. 235 0. Jo to give ni ioe in Today and for the next two Sundays, The Arizona Republic looks at the failings of Arizona's child-welfare system. This series launches the third year of Saving Arizona's Children, our commitment to helping improve the quality of life for every child. i I What's best for the Biggs boys? Arizona is struggling to help such kids.

tell-all book Describes 'my pain, my suffering' State no better at helping kids in need than it was 30 years ago RECAP: See Legal Arena for a Simpson-case rundown. A24. By Carol Sowers, Norm Parish and Richard Robertson The Arizona Republic Thirty-three years ago, an exasperated legislative committee scolded lawmakers about the chaos engulfing the state's child-welfare system. An 86-page report on the Arizona Department of Public Welfare lectured about the disjointed services, lack of funding and employee mutinies threatening the well-being of the children and families under state care. Population increases and declining family values were pushing caseworkers to the brink.

Even with substantial budget increases, it would be difficult to get ahead of the problems. "Like Alice in Wonderland, we will have to run twice as fast just to stay in the same place," the committee warned. That was 1962, and little has changed. The agency still has not been fully funded. It has been plagued by an alarming turnover rate among directors and caseworkers.

Children languish in foster care too long, foster parents become frustrated and resign, and a steady increase in the number of abused and neglected children continues to overload the already fragile system. Arizona's child-welfare system, now under the umbrella of the mammoth Arizona Department of Economic Security, is still in chaos. See STATE, page A 12 By Lawrence Van Gelder The New York Timet A book by O.J. Simpson, discussing spousal abuse, his slain ex-wife and his assertion of innocence in her slaying, will be published next month by Little, Brown Co. Titled Wanf to Tell You and written in collaboration with Lawrence Schiller, the book was described Saturday as an effort by Simpson to respond to the more than 300,000 pieces of mail he has received since his June arrest on charges that he murdered Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman outside her home in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles.

"One of the things O.J. said to me in my first meeting with him about the book was, 'This is not my biography; this is my response to the public's response to me, to my pain, to my Schiller said. Schiller, 52, a former neighbor of Simpson and a producer, director and journalist, collaborated with Norman Mailer on his Pulitzer Prize-winning Executioner's Song and Mailer's forthcoming Oswald's Tale: An American Mystery. None of the principals in the arrangements for the publication of Simpson's book would discuss how much was paid for it. "That is something we cannot divulge," said Robert Kardashian, one of Simpson's lawyers and a longtime business associate who brought Simpson and Schiller together.

"It is confidential between the publisher and ourselves. I can elaborate a little bit to say the funds he is receiving are all going to his defense fund." See page A 15 7" 1 ''V Taxing question for lawmakers 1 I 1 ju-J i I r-' I if' Tom Patterson think we're going to -have a straight- up budget, where what gets appropriated is what gets spent" How to reach goal set by Symington By Bill Muller and Frank Turco The Arizona Republic Call it the $200 million question. The 42nd Arizona Legislature will spend much of its time trying to answer it: How will lawmakers cut $200 million in taxes to back up a campaign promise by Gov. Fife Symington? One thing is clear. The leadership in the Republican-controlled House and Senate agree with Symington on the amount to be cut.

"I think the number $200 million is pretty solid," said Senate Majority Leader Tom Patterson, R-east Phoenix. "You never want to say the game's over at this point in the session, i.e., before it starts, but that's a pretty serious number." But when it comes to where to cut, no consensus has emerged. Although the governor and some influential legislators want to slash the income tax, other powerful political forces are pushing to cut property taxes. In support of Symington's position, 5ce TAX-CUniKG, pagcA6 Photos by Mona ReederTht Arizona Republic Shari Biggs' frustration with the entire system boils over during a session with Nancy Bocock (left), a childhood-development counselor who contracts with Child Protective Services. Biggs told Bocock she could see her boys at school but to not come to their home anymore.

i I kJ rv A 4. 4- 4 1 1 "CJ)U snared in the system INSIDE Russian general killed in Chechnya See Page A4 THE SERIES TODAY Arizona's child-welfare system has been in chaos for three decades. In a system plagued by high turnover and a lack of funding, more and more children are being trapped in a bureaucratic maze. Managing Editor Pam Johnson describes how the difficult decision to run the disturbing story and photographs of a bitter and broken family was reached. PageA12 A look at the problems through the eyes of a Child Protective Services worker.

Perspective, Page Dl. NEXT SUNDAY A crisis builds in the state's foster-care system. SUNDAY, JAN. 22 How to patch holes in the safety net. Arts Plus Astrology Bombeck Books Business Chuckle Gl ES E3 G8 Fl A2 B6 Channel hopping takes final turn for Valley viewers By Dave Walker Republic TV Writer The last domino falls Monday.

TV network ABC moves to KNXV-TV (Channel 15) from KTVK-TV (Channel 3), ending a season of confounding network changes for Phoenix viewers. The move also ends a four-decade relationship between ABC and Channel 3. The station, founded by a former Arizona governor and still run by his heirs, is believed to be the last remaining mom-and-pop TV station in a major American market. At the same time, Channel 15, which produced its first local newscast less than six months ago, becomes the new Phoenix home for Home Improvement, Roseanne, Grace Under Fire, NYPD Blue, General Hospital and 2020. Gifted with a hit-heavy lineup, Channel 15 management intends to ease the station into its ABC era.

"We're going to try to be low-key," said Brad Nilscn, the station's general manager, who plans an ice-cream celebration for his staff Monday afternoon. "We're going to take a break to say, 'We're here. We're at the start of the St CHANNEL, page A 19 Clancy Co. CLI DOZENS OF PEOPLE FOR 1 CASE FILE Over three years, the Biggs case has involved six caseworkers; two CPS supervisors; six foster homes and temporary shelters; at least 10 psychologists and counselors; five attorneys; a judge; two special advocates; two parent aides; hundreds of hours of commercial day care; a fire-safety class; eight weeks of parenthood classes; and lengthy inpatient hospitalization. By Richard Robertson The Arizona Republic Shari Biggs stormed through her living room picking things up and slamming them back down, cursing loudly all the while.

Any minute, she feared, a Child Protective Services caseworker would arrive to snatch away her four young sons for the third time in three years. "They're going to take my children away AGAIN," she screamed. Her husband, Jeff, stood fuming in the living room. Three of their boys lay on the tattered brown couch, sucking their thumbs and watching an Aluddin video. They paid no attention to their mother.

The tension was as thick as the musty smell of the couple's north-central Phoenix home on that Tuesday afternoon in late November. The first time the boys were taken away, it was because the Biggses' home was so filthy that a police officer nearly threw up. The second time, it was an allegation of child molestation that was later determined to be unfounded. Now any unusual phone call or unscheduled CPS visit causes Jeff and Shari Biggs to assume the worst. Into that atmosphere walked Kathryn Watkins, a pleasant, well-dressed, thirtyish CPS worker.

She is the family's sixth caseworker in three years. That's a lot, but Watkins says some families have had nine or more. The Biggses' last caseworker got promoted, she explained. Watkins was meeting the Biggs family for the first time, even though she had See Mm page A 10 Classified Dear Abby Editorial Life Montini Movies Obituaries Outdoors Perspective Prayer Puzzles Sports Travel Weather Willey Wilson E5 D4 El ni GI0 B4 CIS Dl A2 E4 Ct Tl B6 B2.