State lawmakers say they will look into reports the Michigan agency that handles child abuse and neglect cases fudged its numbers to make it appear it was complying with a court order.
The Lansing State Journal reported that some current and former employees of Michigan Child Protective Services say supervisors shuffled cases to employees who were out of the office on leave or vacation. That was to make it appear caseworkers were not overburdened.
?State Representative Joe Graves chairs the House Oversight Committee.
“Well if it’s true, it’s awful. It’s very serious. We’re talking about children.”
Bob Wheaton is with the state Department of Health and Human Services. He says the department investigated after the complaints were first reported.
“We found in all of those cases that children were being attended to, and that caseload assignments were being handled properly. They weren’t being shuffled.”
The department says it’s not true. There was an internal investigation after the story was first reported in May, and the department found no instances of caseloads being shuffled around. The agency is operating under court supervision because of issues with caseloads