MDHHS tells House panel progress under long-running child-welfare consent decree; department outlines steps to exit oversight

Demetrius Starling, senior deputy director for children's services at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Human Services that the department has consolidated and reduced the number of provisions under Michigan’s long-running federal child-welfare consent decree and described steps intended to move the state toward exit from court oversight.

Starling told the committee that a 2024 stipulated order signed in federal court narrowed the agreement’s monitoring requirements and that, during the most recent reporting period, the court found MDHHS met or exceeded performance standards in five monitored areas. "We're way ahead of where we were even 2 or 3 years ago, and I applaud the efforts of the state and the diligence of the plaintiff for being on top of things," Starling said.

The nut of the presentation is that the department and its legislative partners have redirected resources and reorganized divisions to focus on permanency, safety and equity in child welfare. Starling said negotiated changes cut 31 provisions from active monitoring and reduced the number of provisions subject to ongoing monitoring to 23. He described new internal units and oversight functions including a Division of Continuous Quality Improvement, a centralized statewide intake unit and a maltreatment-and-care…