Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

State Rep. Ann Bollin, R-Brighton Township, called upon the House Oversight Committee to hold a hearing to investigate failures of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services after the Office of the Auditor General released concerning findings about the performance of the department’s Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children.

The compact is responsible for protecting and serving children placed across state lines for foster care and adoption, ensuring that vulnerable kids find loving, secure homes that prioritize their well-being. The report released Friday, however, showed that the compact is underperforming.

“The safety and well-being of our children should be the absolute priority of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, yet this report shows a concerning disregard for the essential protections these children deserve,” Bollin said. “We owe it to these children and their families to fix this broken system. This is a matter of life and safety, and we must address it with the urgency it demands.”

According to the report, nearly one-third of the children placed within Michigan did not receive the required initial face-to-face visits within 30 days, a crucial step in ensuring their safety and well-being. The department also failed to obtain necessary supervision reports for more than half of Michigan children placed in other states, leaving them vulnerable without adequate oversight.

Other findings show that MDHHS was late in returning more than a quarter of sampled home study reports to other states.

“MDHHS’s continued failure to protect our children, and now children from other states, is unacceptable,” said Bollin, who serves on the House DHHS Appropriations Subcommittee.

“Our state has a duty to look out for kids who cannot advocate for themselves and keep them out of harm’s way. The OAG’s findings must be taken seriously and investigated by the Oversight Committee.”

The full OAG report can be found below.