MT. PLEASANT, MI (MPRN)-- An audit of Michigan’s Child Protective Services released Thursday found a pattern of failures to follow state requirements.
The audit reviewed CPS investigations between May of 2014 and July of 2016.
The report noted CPS investigators failed to complete criminal history background checks in over 50 percent of the cases, and that at least 257 confirmed perpetrators of child abuse or neglect were not added to a mandatory statewide registry.
Bob Wheaton is a spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. He says it’s hard to know how so many failures occurred.
“It is complicated, difficult work and certainly there is always room for improvements in administration and training and a whole variety of aspects of the children protective services systems,” he says.
Wheaton says the department has already made improvements since the audit - particularly in response times for launching investigations into allegations of child abuse or neglect.
The audit found that the department was an average of 6 days late in conducting face to face meetings with alleged child abuse victims in 11 percent of cases.