- Audit finds ‘significant deficiency’ in Michigan agency managing veteran’s long-term care (Fox2 Detroit, 5/19/2023)
- The Michigan Veterans’ Facility Authority (MVFA) has been advised by the state Auditor General to enhance its internal controls due to various accounting issues. An audit revealed significant deficiencies in tracking Medicare claim collections and cash movement between bank accounts linked to the Michigan Veteran Homes’ fiduciary fund. The MVFA oversees the Michigan Veteran Homes, which offer long-term nursing care to veterans.
- Audit: Michigan Department of Education poorly monitored school worker background checks (Detroit Free Press, 6/27/2023)
- An audit has revealed that the Michigan Department of Education failed to adequately monitor the fingerprinting and criminal background checks of contracted school employees, posing a potential risk to child safety. The department was found to have performed poorly in ensuring compliance and providing timely notifications to school districts regarding criminal convictions of contracted employees. While the department agreed with some findings, it disputed certain aspects, and the auditor recommended improvements in laws related to school fingerprinting and monitoring to address the issue.
- ‘All the children were homeschooled’: Michigan AG, lawmakers call for home school accountability (Detroit Free Press, 12/6/2023)
- Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and State Rep. Matt Koleszar are urging increased state oversight of homeschooling in response to recent child abuse cases where homeschooling was exploited to conceal mistreatment. Michigan is one of only 11 states that does not count or register homeschooled children. Advocates argue for accountability, citing instances of abuse going undetected due to the lack of monitoring, while opponents, including homeschooling advocates, view proposed registration requirements as an infringement on parental rights and government overreach.Education committees in both houses are researching the issue.
- House lawmakers hear from state unemployment agency over 5th pandemic-related audit (Michigan Public, 4/25/2024)
- The House Ethics and Oversight Committee and House Labor Committee recently heard from Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Agency during the fifth pandemic-related audit, where issues such as fraud detection failures and improper payments were discussed. The agency’s director, Julia Dale, attributed these problems to leadership turnover, staffing shortages, and system faults. Despite efforts to improve processes and implement a new system, concerns remain among Republican lawmakers regarding accountability and the need for more significant changes within the agency.
- Michigan governor, lawmakers are exempt from FOIA. That may be changing finally. (MLive, 7/5/2024)
- In a significant development for transparency in Michigan, state lawmakers have garnered bipartisan support for a bill that would subject both the governor’s office and the legislature to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, marking a potential end to Michigan’s status as the sole state where the governor’s office is exempt from such requests. This move comes as only one other state still exempts its lawmakers from FOIA. The legislation, if passed, would represent a major victory for public access to government records and operations, aligning Michigan with the majority of states that ensure greater accountability and openness in their governance.
- Michigan CPS not doing enough to protect kids, state audit finds. HHS objects (The Detroit News, 7/9/2024)
- A state audit released Tuesday by the Office of the Auditor General found that Michigan’s Child Protective Services (CPS) still has significant issues in protecting potentially abused or neglected children, particularly in not conducting face-to-face assessments within 24 hours and allowing investigators to close certain cases without proper monitoring. The audit is a follow-up to a critical 2018 report that identified serious problems during the administration of Gov. Rick Snyder. Despite progress noted by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and its director, Elizabeth Hertel, the audit identified non-compliance with the 2018 improvement plan in key areas. The MDHHS criticized the audit process as “unethical and biased,” arguing that the focus on process and documentation does not equate to child safety. However, the audit revealed that in about 5% of cases, face-to-face contact was not made within the required time frame, and in 21% of cases, investigators did not document an immediate safety plan or explain why one wasn’t necessary.
