DES Overview DES History DES was established in July 1972 by the Arizona Legislature to provide an integration of direct services to people, and to reduce duplication of administrative efforts, services and expenditures. The legislature combined the Employment Security Commission, the State Department of Public Welfare, the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, the State Office of Economic Opportunity, the Apprenticeship Council and the State Office of Manpower Planning. The State Department of Mental Retardation joined the Department in 1974. The DES Vision Quality Service. We lead by example.
Employees are paramount.
Client satisfaction is vital to our success. We value stakeholder partnerships. Continuous improvement is the cornerstone of our quality initiative. We manage by facts. The Arizona Department of Economic Security is a human service agency dedicated to working with the people we serve to achieve their self-sufficiency.