Holland Reporter

State Representative Luke Meerman presided over a committee hearing on Tuesday regarding a report by the Office of Auditor General (OAG). The April report found that Michigan's Office of Family Advocate failed to review 150 child deaths for further investigation. The House Oversight Subcommittee on Child Welfare, chaired by Meerman, received testimony from the OAG and Demetrius Starling, senior deputy director at the Michigan health department overseeing child welfare.

"We have a duty to act on inefficiencies and failures involving the care of children," Meerman stated. "When the child welfare system fails, the consequences are catastrophic. If we do not scrutinize every instance of a child death when the state has already been involved in that child's life, we are not upholding our due diligence to the children of this state."

The April OAG report also noted that among 143 reported child deaths meeting criteria for further review, only 35 cases were investigated by the Office of Family Advocate. The audit highlighted failures to report applicable data in the child fatality registry or update historical information since January 2023.

"It's clear that like all aspects of government, oversight of the child welfare system is necessary to ensure the system is functioning as it should, improving when it needs to, and reconciling its failures," said Meerman. "The shortcomings of the state's Family Advocate Office definitely need to be addressed, and my hope is that our committee meeting prompts them to move in the right direction going forward."