The state child abuse hotline is under scrutiny in the wake of a child abuse case in northeast Arkansas. At a joint legislative committee meeting at Arkansas State Police headquarters Friday, representatives from both the state police and the Arkansas Department of Human Services were grilled by lawmakers about their mandatory reporting policies.
This comes after a child in Mountain Home was alleged to have been abused by his parents for more than a decade. The Mountain Home Observer reports that 29 calls in 11 years were made to the abuse hotline on the child's behalf. DHS determined that the calls were "unsubstantiated" or not worth investigating.
The couple, Jaclyn Barnett and Daniel Wright, face 112 counts each of false imprisonment, among other charges, and have pleaded not guilty.
Police removed the 15-year-old from their care in November of last year, after he was found locked in an apartment bathroom. Mountain Home Police Sgt. Tyler Politte was dispatched to the scene. Cries for help were said to be coming from an upstairs room, with police reports describing the child as “low functioning” and “malnourished.”
The boy and his family were only mentioned indirectly at the Friday meeting. Lawmakers focused more on the problem of repeated calls to the state child abuse hotline. Legislators questioned how DHS tracked the history of a case, so families with multiple abuse complaints would be believed or investigated.
“Why aren't we stacking cases?” Democratic Sen. Fred Love asked.
His questions were similar to other lawmakers at the hearing, repeatedly grilling officials as to how repeated abuse allegations are handled.
Maj. Jeff Drew responded to the cross examination for Arkansas State Police. He said the DHS does have records of a child's “history” when they take calls, but was unclear as to how a similar case could be prevented.
Republican Rep. Hope Duke peppered Drew with tough questions. She said many teachers have told her they worry hotline calls are being ignored. She said the teachers she talked to were “heartbroken.”
“I’ve heard that for several years now,” Duke said. “They make reports and nothing happens,”
Drew gave limited answers to the questions.
“There are things in place to try to provide help to the child and the immediate family,” he said.
Duke responded: “what confidence do they have if they report that? And they report again? Because it's a continual thing.”
Duke had to repeat her question several times. She said there was "definitely some disconnect” between the reporting professionals and the state. Drew said that probably came from teachers not being updated on the investigation per confidentiality rules.
At one point, the Director of the Division of Children and Family Services stepped in to take questions. Tiffany Wright suggested that each case needed to be looked at individually before saying too many cases were being unexpected for investigation.
“The frustration I heard is they don't see anything changing with what caused them to make the report to begin with.”
Wright said they had to balance the reports with other factors. She listed “poverty” and “connection to community resources.”
“We have to engage the community around this kid when it's not necessarily an imminent danger but the family needs help, services and support.”
Duke did reference Mountain Home specifically, but also asked about another “recent case.”
“Is there something the teacher could have done? They just have to keep and keep reporting it. Do I need to call?”
When Love cross examined officials, he said it was “on” him and his colleagues as public officials to “have a system.”
Wright asked Love to give DHS “a second to come up with some ideas.”
“We don't have a second,” Love responded.
At the meeting, Maj. Drew said the hotline had received over 60,000 calls last year and about 40,000 so far in 2025. The hotline was originally created in 1997.
