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New York Post: Arizona child welfare workers fired for wearing ‘professional kidnapper’ shirts



Multiple employees of the Arizona Department of Child Safety lost their jobs for wearing T-shirts that read “Professional kidnapper,” according to a report.

The bright pink shirts that were apparently worn during work hours led to the firing of several staffers last month, the Arizona Republic reports, citing multiple sources in the agency’s Prescott field office and a former unit supervisor.

The back of the shirts, according to photos obtained by the newspaper, read: “Do you know where your children are?”

One former employee confirmed she was terminated for the shirt, but refused to elaborate or identify herself. Her firing and that of other staffers in Prescott left the field office understaffed — purportedly with just one investigator — to look into complaints of child abuse and neglect, according to the report.

The shirts were a misguided attempt to make light of critics who blast DCS workers who remove children from their families, some who have even accused them of being kidnappers, the Arizona Republic reports.

Christina Sanders, a former DCS unit supervisor, said she saw a photo of the investigators posing in the T-shirts and contacted the agency’s director, claiming it showed some of her former co-workers.

In one photo that appeared to be taken in a parking lot outside the Prescott office, several staffers posed to show both sides of the shirt while one employee wore her work ID badge, according to the report.

“They think they’re so untouchable, they don’t think they can get caught,” Sanders told the newspaper.

Claire Louge, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Arizona, said the message on the shirt “really illuminates that people in the system are biased against parents” in some instances.

A message seeking comment from the agency early Wednesday was not immediately returned, but a spokesman declined to comment late Monday....
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ROSAL

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Originally posted by 92fstech:
Sigh. Is it professional, no, but it is pretty funny. When you see the things that these people have to on a regular basis, then get accused of "kidnapping" or misconduct by people who are guilty of horrific neglect or abuse, sometimes it takes some gallows humor to stay sane. Wearing the shirts at work and taking the picture, probably not the smartest move, but IMO termination is pretty harsh.

I don't know about AZ, but around here it takes something absolutely eggregious for DCS to remove a child. I think the general public looks at DCS with suspicion that they're going to show up and snatch your kid because you spanked them or made some other parenting decision that doesn't fit within societal norms. That's not the case at all...if they're taking a kid out of a home, they have a damn good reason, and they have to be able to back it up in court.

Some people just aren't fit to raise kids. My dad used to work for DCS back in the 90s. He saw some truly horrible stuff. On one occasion he had to pull some kids from an abusive home, and the parent responsible for the abuse accused him and his co-worker of being like the winged monkeys from the Wizard of Oz...flying in and snatching kids. His boss thought that was pretty funny, so he got a small statue of the winged monkeys carrying Dorthy and Toto and put it in their office. I remember seeing it as a kid. It was there for years, nobody said a word.

Society needs to lighten up and focus on the substance of the issue, not just the optics. Are the employees wearing these shirts actually guilty of misconuct or taking children from homes that they shouldn't be removed from? If so, then by all means fire them. But if it's just some inter-office humor between co-workers that helps them deal with the trully horrific stuff they have to contend with on a regular basis, then tell them to lose the shirts and let them get back to work. Social media has turned butthurt and outrage over little things into the national pasttime.

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“They think they’re so untouchable, they don’t think they can get caught,” Sanders told the newspaper.

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Her firing and that of other staffers in Prescott left the field office understaffed — purportedly with just one investigator — to look into complaints of child abuse and neglect, according to the report.

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If you want to be cute and funny, do it off hours. Totally stupid thing to do on the clock. How would you like it, if your wife's gynecologist walks in the room wearing a T-shirt that reads "Professional molester"?

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Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

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If you want to be cute and funny, do it off hours. Totally stupid thing to do on the clock. How would you like it, if your wife's gynecologist walks in the room wearing a T-shirt that reads "Professional molester"?

^^^^^^^^
Exactly well put Q.

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Originally posted by 12131:
If you want to be cute and funny, do it off hours. Totally stupid thing to do on the clock. How would you like it, if your wife's gynecologist walks in the room wearing a T-shirt that reads "Professional molester"?