Michigan Audit: State Guardian Failed to Monitor Over Half of Its Foster Wards

Lansing, Mich. — The Michigan agency that becomes the legal guardian of children after a judge terminates their parents’ rights was not monitoring more than half of them, a state audit found. The Michigan Office of the Auditor General reported that the Michigan Children’s Institute had not identified or carried out monitoring for over half of all its wards, and conducted only limited monitoring for the cases it did track.

The finding goes to the core of what the state promises when it severs a family. When a court terminates parental rights, the child does not simply enter foster care; the state itself becomes the child’s guardian, with the Institute’s superintendent standing in as the legal parent. The audit describes a guardian that could not show it was watching the children it had taken for keeps.

What the audit found

The audit, covering October 2023 through May 23, 2025, found the Institute was actively tracking fewer than half of its cases. Requests for case review came up for 2,200 of more than 5,000 children in state care. For the wards it did identify, the auditors wrote, the Institute conducted “only limited monitoring activities,” and did not consistently review homes after children were placed in them.

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The gaps extended beyond monitoring. In 55 percent of county-level adoption approvals, the local director had not obtained the required permission from the Institute’s superintendent. At times, the audit found, children underwent nonemergency medical procedures without the Institute’s consent. The auditors also flagged unsecured access to children’s personal data.

A guardian that cannot confirm it was watching

The Institute is required to review investigative assessments and to be consulted and notified of significant activity in its wards’ cases. The Auditor General’s Office said it could not confirm that the Institute “is always consulted and/or is appropriately notified of significant case activity.” In plain terms, the office that signs off on these children’s lives could not demonstrate that it knew what was happening to them.

How the state responded

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services disagreed with the monitoring findings in its preliminary response, saying the Institute “fulfills the statutory requirement to review investigative assessments” and partners with local offices and private agencies, with reviews occurring “at varying intervals.” The department agreed with the adoption-consent findings and said it had hired a consultant and taken steps to strengthen its adoption consent process. It has roughly two months to produce a plan addressing the audit.

The deeper problem is not a staffing shortfall the state can spend its way out of. It is that a system can take a child from a family on the promise of doing better, assume the role of that child’s guardian, and then be unable to produce a record that anyone was watching. When the state asks a court to terminate a parent’s rights, it tells the judge it will be a more reliable guardian than the parent. An audit in which the state cannot show it monitored more than half of its own wards is evidence of what that promise is worth.

Key facts

• The Michigan Office of the Auditor General found the Michigan Children’s Institute did not identify or carry out monitoring for over half of its wards.
• The Institute was actively tracking fewer than half of its cases; review requests came up for 2,200 of more than 5,000 children in state care.
• The audit period ran from October 2023 through May 23, 2025.
• The Institute’s superintendent serves as the legal guardian for children whose parental rights have been terminated.
• In 55 percent of county adoption approvals, the local director lacked the required superintendent permission.
• The audit found children underwent nonemergency medical procedures without the Institute’s consent, and flagged unsecured access to personal data.
• MDHHS disagreed with the monitoring findings, agreed with the adoption findings, and has about two months to submit a corrective plan.

Sources

• Michigan Public — Thousands of foster kids under state guardianship not being monitored, audit finds (2026-10-19)
• CBS News Detroit — Michigan audit finds thousands of foster children without oversight (2026-10-19)
• WEMU — Audit finds flaws in oversight of Michigan children in foster care (2026-10-20)

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