Auditor general follow-up finds continued gaps in Michigan child protective investigations; MDHHS says improvements made

The House Oversight Subcommittee on Children’s Welfare System on Wednesday heard testimony from the Office of the Auditor General and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on a July 2024 follow-up to a 2018 audit of Child Protective Services (CPS) investigations.

The Office of the Auditor General reported that MDHHS complied with six of 17 prior audit findings but “partially and or did not comply with 11 of the findings,” and that MDHHS disputed the auditor’s classification for 10 of those 11, prompting written auditor responses included in the report, Auditor Keith Edwards said. “When the audited entity’s comments are inconsistent or in conflict with the findings, conclusions, or recommendations, the auditor must evaluate the validity of the comments,” Edwards told the committee.

The follow-up identified multiple recurring problems. The auditor said MDHHS had discontinued a policy that required CPS investigators to contact mandated reporters for clarification; when investigators did make that contact, additional information aided safety assessments, but investigators did not make that contact in about 48% of reviewed investigations. The report also found initial safety plans were missing or incomplete in about 21% of cases reviewed and that safety assessments were not…