Audit finds many Michigan child protection agency failures
DETROIT (AP) — A child welfare investigator in Michigan found evidence a male caretaker had sexually abused a child, and the child’s mother continued to allow the man — her live-in boyfriend — access to her children during the investigation.
State auditors say the investigator didn’t refer the case to a prosecutor or file a court petition; assessing far too low risk of future harm to the child; and closing the investigation with no monitoring of the family afterward.
The case was among many highlighted in a scathing report released Thursday by the state Office of the Auditor General. The audit released of Michigan’s Children’s Protective Services cites numerous deficiencies in an overall system that has been under court oversight for a decade and cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
The report found the agency failed to launch and complete investigations within required timeframes, and didn’t complete criminal history checks. Other deficiencies cited include: failing to complete face-to-face interactions with alleged child victims in a timely manner; not referring investigations to prosecutors; and not accurately assessing a child’s risk of harm.
The numerous failings were documented even though Michigan’s child welfare system has been under court oversight since 2008 — primarily relating to foster care but including children’s services agency. A New York group, Children’s Rights, filed a lawsuit in 2006 on behalf of nearly 20,000 children. Michigan agreed to make many changes, including hundreds of new hires to reduce caseloads of workers who oversee children in foster care or protective services. There are benchmarks for a variety of issues affecting children, from education to health care.
The agency agreed with most findings in the new report. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, of which CPS is part, said in a statement it takes the report “very seriously” and recognizes it “can and must improve.” The statement cites improvements already being made since it learned of the audit’s findings.