East Michigan News

State Rep. Tom Kunse on Tuesday criticized the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) following a report from Michigan’s nonpartisan Office of the Auditor General, which highlighted significant deficiencies within child protective services (CPS).

The audit report identified several critical issues, including the failure to conduct background checks, delays in initiating abuse investigations, insufficient safety plans for victims, and instances where victims were not met with at all.

“I’m not sure if it’s incompetence or a disregard for the wellbeing of our kids, but this audit shows that leadership within MDHHS is incapable of caring for the children who need us most,” said Kunse, R-Clare. “These kids were failed by their parents. Many of them were failed by another guardian as well. Yet, when someone finally calls about the abuse, the state sits on their hands for three days before looking into it. That could be three more days without meals or three more days of abuse. All we can hope is that a failure to respond didn’t result in a child not making it three more days.”

A similar audit conducted in 2018 revealed comparable failures within CPS. The recent report indicates that these issues persist.

The audit found that MDHHS had altered its internal policies to reduce the number of individuals requiring background checks. This change significantly limited clearance requirements, excluding non-perpetrator parents, individuals responsible for children's health and wellbeing, and other household members in domestic violence cases.

Auditors discovered that some individuals involved in child care had prior felony convictions for offenses such as 1st-degree sexual assault, domestic violence, assault, and drug charges.

“Rather than improve safeguards to ensure that CPS isn’t allowing dangerous criminals to remain in charge of children, MDHHS moved its own goalposts to try and let themselves off the hook,” Kunse stated. “They can say whatever they want about progress or solutions. I don’t care. If a child is at risk in their own home, they should never be left with an adult with a history of sexual or domestic abuse.”

The department remains out of compliance with state law regarding the timeliness of initiating investigations after allegations of child abuse are made. State law mandates that investigations begin within 24 hours; however, MDHHS sometimes waits up to 72 hours due to departmental policies permitting this delay.

Additionally, the department continues to fail in creating adequate safety plans and conducting necessary in-person interviews.

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