Arizona
Where abused children in Southern Arizona begin path to healing
TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – It’s a grim reality, but children across southern Arizona are abused or neglected every day.
Just this month, 13 News reported on two separate cases in Tucson where children with disabilities died, allegedly at the hands of their caregivers.
One local organization’s mission is to get these children out of harm’s way before it’s too late.
When law enforcement or the Department of Child Safety believe a child may be experiencing abuse, they are brought to the Children’s Advocacy Center in Tucson. Here, a child can share their story, get medically evaluated, and begin a path to healing.
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“Every day we meet about six new children who need our help,” said Executive Director Marie Fordney.
Of the thousands of child abuse cases investigated in Pima County every year, the Children’s Advocacy Center deals with the most severe.
“People ask me how I can do this work because we are seeing the worst of the worst. It is truly awful the things that we see and hear,” Fordney said. “I leave this building full of hope every day because every child that came here is better off now.”
Fordney said they work with children who have suffered either sexual or physical abuse and neglect. They also serve those who might be a potential victim of human trafficking, child porn, and more.
“Children are brought here if they are witnesses to a violent crime,” Fordney said. “We help children who have witnessed homicide or domestic violence just as much as we help children who have themselves been the victim.”
Fordney also says 35% of the children they serve have a disability.
“Children with disabilities may be less able to speak up or make a report when something is happening to them,” she said.
The center works with authorities at the onset of an investigation and helps collect evidence through a recorded forensic interview and medical exam.
“We collect the evidence in a way that supports the healing for the child, and keeps it from being such a difficult situation for them,” Fordney said. “Before we had a Children’s Advocacy Center, a child might have been interviewed up to seven times and they would have had to get their medical services in an emergency room.”
Fordney showed 13 News the exam room they have on site.
“Not only is this space more comforting, but also the team providing the exams is really well trained and knows what they’re doing,” Fordney said showcasing the exam room.
Fordney said investigators will leave the center to make an arrest, but most of the time support can be put in place for the family.
“More frequently the kids are able to go back home because they have a supportive home environment, and it was a stranger, or it was somebody who lives in the home that has been kicked out of the home who was abusing them,” she said.
She said a lot of these cases are reported to them by neighbors and community members who saw something that concerned them.
“Our children really rely on all of us to be watching for signs that they are in trouble and to make that call.”
To make a report, call 911 or call the Arizona Child Abuse Hotline at 1-888-SOS-CHILD.
For more information on resources provided at the Children’s Advocacy Center, visit their website.
Be sure to subscribe to the 13 News YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@13newskold
Copyright 2024 13 News. All rights reserved.
Arizona
NAU launches first-of-its-kind engineering degree to fast-track Arizona’s future workforce – The NAU Review
As Arizona’s semiconductor and advanced manufacturing industries continue to grow at a rapid pace, Northern Arizona University’s Steve Sanghi College of Engineering is launching a new degree program designed to help meet the state’s workforce needs.
Beginning this fall, NAU will offer a Bachelor of Professional Studies in Engineering Technology, a flexible, workforce-focused degree pathway that prepares students for careers in microelectronics, semiconductors and advanced manufacturing in as little as three years. The 90-credit bachelor’s degree creates a more accessible pathway into engineering careers through a hands-on, applied curriculum and a streamlined transfer model with Arizona community colleges.
The program follows a 45-45 completion structure, allowing students to complete 45 credits at a community college and 45 credits through NAU. Courses will be delivered through synchronous remote instruction at NAU’s North Valley campus in Phoenix and at Pima Community College in Tucson, increasing access for statewide students.
Addressing Arizona’s growing semiconductor workforce
Designed with workforce readiness in mind, the program emphasizes practical engineering application, systems implementation, testing, quality control, systems analysis, manufacturing, fabrication, process control and project management. Students will gain technical and problem-solving skills aligned with the needs of Arizona’s rapidly evolving manufacturing economy.
“This new bachelor’s degree empowers students to identify real-world engineering challenges and develop practical solutions,” said James Palmer, associate dean for academic affairs at the Steve Sanghi College of Engineering. “We are creating a more accessible pathway into engineering careers while preparing graduates to support Arizona’s growing microelectronics and semiconductor industry.”
Arizona has emerged as one of the nation’s fastest-growing semiconductor hubs, with more than $200 billion in semiconductor-related investments announced in the Greater Phoenix region since 2020, including expansions from Intel, TSMC and Amkor Technology. TSMC alone has committed up to $165 billion toward Arizona operations, including multiple fabrication plants and advanced packaging facilities expected to create thousands of technical and manufacturing jobs.
Industry demand continues to grow for professionals with applied engineering and advanced manufacturing skills in areas such as process engineering, manufacturing systems, equipment operations and yield enhancement. NAU’s new degree program was developed to help students quickly enter these high-demand career fields while supporting Arizona’s long-term economic growth and domestic semiconductor manufacturing capacity.
The program also aligns with NAU’s strategic commitment to expanding access to affordable, student-centered educational opportunities that prepare graduates for meaningful careers and long-term success.
Students interested in learning more about the Bachelor of Professional Studies in Engineering Technology program should contact SCE@nau.edu.
PHOENIX (AP) — The two Republican congressmen running for Arizona governor pitched themselves at a debate Wednesday as the only candidate with broad enough voter appeal to unseat Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs amid the state’s affordability struggles.
U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, who is the GOP primary’s frontrunner and has the endorsement of President Donald Trump, portrayed himself as being able to cross party lines and having the right experience to be the state’s chief executive.
“There’s not a doubt in my mind, if you look at the polling data that you’re going to find, I am the most competitive with Katie Hobbs of anybody on this stage in any Republican in the state,” Biggs said.
U.S. Rep. David Schweikert, who has survived three tough Democratic challenges in recent years, believes his focus on government finances and his drive to bring new business to the state make him the singular Republican candidate.
“These are wonderful people, but they’ve never actually been in the great battle,” Schweikert said of Biggs and two other Republican opponents.
Businessman Scott Neely, who ran an unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 2022, said after the debate that if Biggs wins the primary, Republicans will lose the election.
The winner of the July 21 primary will face Hobbs, who’s running unopposed in the primary.
Biggs has served five terms in the U.S. House, representing a heavily GOP district in the eastern Phoenix suburbs and serving at one time as chairman of the ultra-right U.S. House Freedom Caucus.
Before that, Biggs served in the Arizona Legislature from 2003 through 2016, including four years as president of the state Senate. He battled with then-Republican Gov. Jan Brewer on a Medicaid expansion in 2013 and pushed school choice measures and bills targeting abortion providers.
Biggs is one of Trump’s top defenders in Congress and supported Trump’s false claims the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.
Schweikert, a budget hawk known for railing against government debt, has represented an affluent district that includes parts of northeast Phoenix and Scottsdale for eight terms. He served in the Arizona House in the 1990s and as Maricopa County’s treasurer in the 2000s.
Schweikert has focused his congressional career on sounding the alarm about the federal budget deficit and the ballooning U.S. debt, often in late-night speeches to a nearly empty House chamber and bleary-eyed C-SPAN viewers. Schweikert has praised Trump’s 2017 tax cuts but has called for more spending cuts to reduce federal borrowing.
His reputation was tarnished by ethics scandals. In 2022, he received a $125,000 fine by the Federal Election Commission for misappropriating campaign funds. Two years prior, he agreed to pay a $50,000 fine and accept 11 campaign finance violations after an investigation by the U.S. House Committee on Ethics. In his last three general campaigns for Congress, Schweikert staved off challenges from Democrats. Biggs voiced support for Arizona’s recent passage of a three-year moratorium on tax incentives for new data centers – a move Hobbs also has touted. “They shouldn’t be given a break,” Biggs said, noting the large amounts of power and water that data centers use.
Schweikert bemoaned Arizona’s unfavorable affordability rankings as “pretty miserable,” but said consumer prices don’t come down magically. He vowed to aggressively recruit businesses to Arizona and push for wage growth.
Both congressmen were asked about the expired healthcare subsidies for those getting coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
“We’re going to have to deal with the reality of subsidization of everything in the economy is not going to work,” Schweikert said.
Biggs said he introduced legislation in Congress to bring down healthcare costs and also voiced support for Trump’s proposal to send money directly to Americans for health savings accounts so they can handle insurance and health costs as they see fit.
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