Arizona child safety director resigns to become nonprofit executive

PHOENIX — The director of the Arizona Department of Child Safety has resigned, the governor’s office announced Wednesday.

Greg McKay led the agency for more than four years and will remain as director until Sept. 1, according to a press release.

McKay is leaving the agency to become the chief operating officer of Phoenix-based nonprofit Childhelp, which works to prevent child abuse.

“I’m grateful to have worked alongside an amazing and dedicated team at the Department of Child Safety, without whom none of the department’s success would be possible,” McKay said in the release.

“I will continue to be an advocate for Arizona children and those who protect and serve them.”

Gov. Doug Ducey said he credits McKay with turning a “broken” agency into one that is “setting the example for other states to follow.”

According to the governor’s office, Arizona reduced the number of children in out-of-home care by nearly 30% from 2016 to 2019 under McKay’s leadership.

When I took office, AZ’s child safety agency was broken. Overworked caseworkers. A skyrocketing foster care population. Thousands of inactive cases. Into this stepped Director McKay, determined to turn things around for our most vulnerable kids. @ArizonaDCS @dcsgregmckay 2/4

— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) July 9, 2019

The number of open reports in the department dropped from a high of more than 33,000 in April 2015 to about 6,300 today, while inactive cases declined from more than 16,000 in January 2015 to under 200 today, the release said.

Before he was appointed as DCS director, McKay worked in law enforcement for 20 years and investigated child murder cases.

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