Sheriff, Marquette prosecutor tell House Oversight Committee they repeatedly found children in unsafe conditions and urge DHHS accountability

Monroe County Sheriff Troy Goodenough and Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Babbel of Marquette County told the Michigan House Oversight Committee that law enforcement and prosecutors have repeatedly encountered children living in unsafe, unsanitary conditions and that state child protective services (CPS) responded inadequately in multiple cases.

Sheriff Goodenough said his office had three documented responses to the same family — on Nov. 30, 2023; Dec. 10, 2024; and April 16, 2025 — and that each was recorded in an official sheriff’s office report and on body-worn camera. “They failed 3 times. 3 times,” he said, asserting that county deputies observed children living in a tent or under a tarp, on a mattress on the ground, with a small space heater and “no plumbing” and that children were not in school. Goodenough told the committee that Child Protective Services was notified after each contact and that the sheriff’s office ultimately…