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Child welfare audit confirms major progress at MDHHS
Press Release/Mike Kaufman
Tue, 09 Jul 2024 21:09:18 EDT
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A new state audit shows "significant and measurable progress" in how the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) investigates child abuse allegations, Director Elizabeth Hertel said in response to the Office of the Auditor General's (OAG) formal update to a 2018 audit that uncovered serious issues during the Snyder administration.
Of the OAG's 17 findings, auditors found that MDHHS had fully or partially complied in 15 of them, an 88% success rate. MDHHS strongly disagreed with one of only two findings labeled as non-compliant and questioned why auditors focused on process and paperwork rather than progress made by MDHHS since the Snyder audit.
"These findings confirm our focus and fuel our resolve," Hertel said. "We welcome the opportunity and responsibility to work with the legislature, law enforcement, judges and other partners to transform Michigan's child welfare system into a national model for competence and caring."
The audit represents a bold pattern of reform at MDHHS: Independent monitors recently found nearly 100% compliance for the timeliness and staffing of child abuse investigations. As a result, Judge Nancy G. Edmunds of the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Michigan signed a stipulated order to modify the Modified Implementation, Sustainability and Exit Plan (MISEP) that dramatically reduces the remaining requirements MDHHS must meet for the department to be released from court oversight.
