State Rep. Luke Meerman has introduced a plan to demand accountability and transparency from Michigan’s failing child welfare system, ensuring Child Protective Services (CPS) and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) are held responsible for how they carry out their duty to protect vulnerable children and serve families.

Meerman has made improving Michigan’s child welfare system a major focus of his work in the Lansing. As chair of the House Oversight Subcommittee on the Child Welfare System and a former foster parent, he has spent the past two years examining failures within the system, demanding answers from officials, investigating shortages in placement options for vulnerable children, and advocating for reforms that help more children find safe, stable homes.

His newly introduced package represents the latest step in his broader effort to address repeated shortcomings in the system.

“This legislation builds on the work we’ve done to expose the ongoing problems within Michigan’s child welfare system and hold the department accountable for fixing them,” Meerman said. “We have heard from families, foster parents, advocates, medical professionals and others who have seen firsthand where this system is failing. We have investigated those failures and demanded answers. Now, it is time to put meaningful reforms in place.”

The legislation would:

• Strengthen oversight of CPS cases and decision-making
• Establish clearer requirements for responding to reports of abuse and neglect
• Improve coordination with courts, medical professionals and law enforcement
• Create new structures to ensure the state’s child welfare system is operating effectively

“CPS is entrusted with protecting our state’s most vulnerable children and responding quickly when there are reports that they’re in danger,” said Meerman (R-Coopersville). “That responsibility demands accountability. There must be meaningful oversight to ensure the agency makes decisions in the best interest of the children they serve.”

House Bills 6296-98 would increase accountability by providing courts with additional information and oversight of CPS cases. The legislation would also expand medical input and create a new Youth and Family Justice Bureau and statewide training institute focused on improving consistency, expertise and accountability across the system.

The plan also strengthens efforts to safely reunify children with their families when appropriate and ensure they achieve permanent placements when reunification is not possible.

“Whenever children can safely remain with or return to their families, that should remain an important goal,” Meerman said. “But when reunification is not safe or possible, children deserve stability and permanent homes. Our responsibility as policymakers is to make sure the government systems we fund are working toward those outcomes and that the people making these critical decisions are held accountable.”

Meerman’s plan would also strengthen the state’s response to reports of suspected abuse and neglect by expanding mandatory reporting requirements and requiring county departments to immediately screen reports and determine whether an investigation is warranted.

The bill would establish specific factors to guide that screening process, creating clearer expectations and greater accountability for how reports are handled. It would also strengthen coordination with law enforcement and childcare regulators when serious allegations arise. Law enforcement would be immediately notified when narcotics exposure or production is suspected. Mandated reporters would also be protected from being penalized for a report under this plan.

“When someone sees something concerning enough to report suspected abuse or neglect, the government must take that concern seriously,” Meerman said. “They shouldn’t disappear into a bureaucratic process with little accountability for what happens next. We need clear standards, prompt action and greater oversight to ensure allegations receive the attention they deserve.”

The plan redirects $150 million in existing DHHS funding to support the new Youth and Family Justice Bureau and the reforms established through the package. Counties that assume responsibility for administering child welfare services under the new structure would also be eligible to receive a portion of the funding.

Meerman said the funding reform is intended to ensure taxpayer dollars are tied more directly to the services, oversight and accountability needed to improve the child welfare system.

“Government should never be allowed to operate on autopilot, especially when the consequences involve children,” Meerman said. “We need stronger checks on the system and better tools to evaluate CPS response. That’s what this plan delivers.”

The three-bill package was referred to the House Judiciary Committee for consideration.