Michigan audit finds thousands of foster children without oversight; Advocates disagree
An audit of Michigan's foster care system revealed that more than half of children in its care didn't receive monitoring by the state to make sure their needs were being met. However, those who work alongside the state say this audit doesn't tell the full story.
Michigan's Auditor General found that the state wasn't monitoring more than half of the foster children in its care, but according to foster care advocates, that doesn't mean there is no oversight.
"When kids are in foster care, they have an assigned foster care worker who is required to see them at least monthly in their foster home," said Guiding Harbor CEO Jennifer Trotter. The Michigan Children's Institute (MCI) is the state agency that monitors the organization.
"MCI Doesn't provide any of the direct oversight; the foster care agencies are tasked with that role," Trotter said.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services disagreed with the State Auditor's finding, arguing in the report that "...MCI's responsibilities are fulfilled through MDHHS's multilayered foster care oversight system."
A foster care advocate explained why, out of the 5,000 children in foster care identified by the State Auditor, only 2,200 of them had a record of monitoring by MCI.
"While MCI might not have its paperwork in order, they do have social workers from other foster care agencies. It makes it look like these kids are being neglected where it's really mismanagement of their paperwork," said adoptive parent Connie Smith.
"That is concerning because these are kids that are up for adoption. If at the state level the paperwork is missing, that makes it harder for their adoptive workers and their foster care workers to get them to their forever home."
As someone who went through the foster care system herself, Smith says that addressing the declining number of foster families in Michigan should be the state's top priority.
