Michigan substantiated 447 incidents of child abuse and neglect of children in state custody last year, which amounted to a rate of 14.27 victimizations per 100,000 days in foster care.
The state failed to pull its rate down to the federal standard (9.07) for the third consecutive year, signaling a backslide after the Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) showed some improvement in 2024.
“The rate of victimization per 100,000 days in foster care is moving in the wrong direction, and represents an urgent safety threat to children,” federal court-appointed monitors wrote in their latest assessment of Michigan’s efforts to overhaul its child welfare system.
Reducing maltreatment in foster care is one of 24 criteria that Michigan is still trying to improve. With enough progress, this would end the federal court oversight that has been ongoing since 2008 as part of a class action lawsuit settlement.
In their latest progress update, court monitors determined Michigan hadn’t met its commitment for 19 of the 24 criteria, and remained more than 10% away from the designated performance standard for 16 criteria.
Some of those shortcomings were related to maltreatment investigations, licensure oversight, child healthcare, visits with parents, placement and home safety checks.
The department met or exceeded performance standards in five areas. One of those criteria — the rate of children who enter foster care and successfully exit to a permanent home within 12 months of entry — improved enough to exit oversight.
“The safety, stability and well-being of the children in our care remains a top priority,” said Amy Epkey, MDHHS acting director, in a prepared statement. “Children thrive when they have consistent, caring adults in their lives. Permanency provides more than just placement — it provides a foundation of trust and support.”
Court-appointed monitors submitted their findings for the period of January through June 2025 in a hearing Thursday, July 31, in front of U.S. District Judge Susan DeClercq in Detroit.
Children’s Rights, a New York-based advocacy group, accused the state of failing to protect foster kids from physical and emotional abuse in 2006. The settlement agreement called for increased services for children in foster care, organizational changes within MDHHS and increased training and supervision for caseworkers.
Throughout the last 17 years, the department has made strides in various areas to reduce the criteria being monitored. The total provisions subject to ongoing monitoring has been reduced from more than 70 to about two dozen.
Michigan filed a motion in June requesting an end to its court-monitoring. The move reflected the department’s belief that it has “made sustained progress and built durable systems to protect Michigan children.”
As of late July, the court had not granted the state’s request.
Below are a few of the key takeaways from the 66-page progress report. To find the full document (MISEP 28), visit michigan.gov/mdhhs.
Maltreatment in foster care
Monitors reviewed a random sample of investigations into alleged child abuse and neglect in foster care in the first half of 2025. Of the 150 cases, 50 investigations were deemed inadequate, including 36 in which the state collected insufficient information to render a finding.
As for substantiated incidents of child abuse and neglect in foster care, MDHHS reported 447 incidents involving 421 children during the six-month period. To meet the child safety standard, the state would have had to prevent an additional 163 incidents.
Michigan’s rate of victimization per 100,000 days in foster care steadily increased from 5.55 in 2021 to 8.04 in 2022, to 14.5 in 2023. It declined to 10.4 in 2024 before jumping to 14.27 in 2025.
Oversight
Michigan sought to strengthen child safety within foster care and protective services in 2020 following the death of a teen in a residential facility. Proposed strategies involved better contract monitoring, licensing oversight and technical assistance.
Five years later, the monitoring team said that the quality of state oversight left “unresolved risks to youth safety” at certain contracted child caring institutions and child placing agencies.
The state’s approach to oversight at these agencies was insufficient and did not ensure the safety and well-being of children in its custody, the monitors wrote. There were also instances identified in which agencies did not correct safety issues despite repeated rule violations, corrective action plans and enhanced engagement with state monitors over time.
Safety checks
When a child is placed with a relative who has not previously been a licensed foster parent, MDHHS should visit the home to determine if it’s safe prior to placement. That includes background checks on all adults residing in the home within 72 hours of placement. A home study should also be conducted within 30 days.
Of a randomly selected sample of 65 homes in which children were placed with an unlicensed relative, 84.6% had the proper safety assessments, background checks and home studies completed. That fell short of the 95% performance standard, but was an improvement from the 76.9% rate from the prior assessment period.
Visits
In cases where reunification of foster children with their biological parents is the goal, caseworkers should visit with the parents twice during the first month of placement, including at least once in the parent’s home, and at least once a month subsequently.
Caseworkers didn’t meet the designated performance standards for those visits during the assessment period. While there was slight progress from the prior period, the rates remained more than 10% away from the stated goals.
Where the state did have success in 2025 was the rate of visits between siblings when a child is in foster care and has not been placed with their sibling. Monitors found at least monthly visits in 89.9% of cases, marking the third consecutive period of exceeding the 85% standard.
Siblings who entered foster care placement at or near the same time were placed together 84% of the time, unless specified exceptions were met.
Healthcare
Children in foster care should have medical and mental health examinations within 30 days of entry into the system. Michigan met that timeline in about 85% of cases, meeting the goal for the third consecutive period.
The state did not meet its goals for keeping required documentation for children who are prescribed psychotropic medications. That includes having consent forms on file.
A random sample of 66 children found 60.6% had the required monitoring documentation and 80% had a consent form on file. The standard for both is 97%.
Permanency rate
MDHHS was tasked with developing a plan to increase the rate of permanency for children in foster care in a handful of the state’s largest counties. Michigan chose Ingham, Jackson, Kent, Muskegon, Oakland and Saginaw counties, which accounted for 21% of the foster care population served during the first half of 2023.
The state’s strategy to speed up permanent placement focused on identified needs and barriers, including parental engagement, housing, mental health services and substance abuse.
Between 2023 and 2024, the state’s permanency rate improved from 9.5% to 22.9%. The progress was enough to remove that criteria from oversight.
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