LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – After a month, the Auditor General replied to one legislator’s calling for accountability and transparency about changes to the Michigan Child Development and Care (CDC).  

“Working parents across my district have been getting stuck with child care bills the state was supposed to take care of, posing a major financial burden on these families,” Representative Tom Kunse (R-Clare) said. “This is not okay, especially given the high costs of essentials, and rampant inflation. This issue is a direct result of an incompetent bureaucracy. I am very pleased that the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) is complying with my request, and this is being properly and thoroughly investigated.”

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Representative Kunse also serves as the vice chair of the House Ethics and Oversight committee, and recieved a letter back from the Auditor General after he requested an audit of the CDC program regarding changes to child care subsidy eligibility standards and its alleged failure to community changes to parents and child care providers.

“The CDC program is currently on our audit plan, scheduled to begin fall 2023. In the interim, we will compile information regarding past audits and corresponding findings involving the program,” the letter said. 

Previously, Representative Kunse, wrote inquiring about numerous items that were allegedly occurring to families including: 

• Caseworkers giving eligibility information to parents or providers that conflicts with official notice
• Erroneous termination or other change to a family’s eligibility
• Delayed notice of a termination or other eligibility change to parents or providers
• The difficulty of getting information through the hotline (time spent on hold, days-long waits for a callback appointment, etc.)
• The lack of back payments to compensate for wrongful eligibility termination

Representative Gina Johnsen (R-Lake Odessa), also criticized the speed of communication for those in the program.  

“It’s a lack of communication, it’s a lack of oversight, it’s a lack diligence in several departments that have been mentioned and the communication breakdown is number one,” she said, “It takes parents hours and hours on hold just to reach somebody to verify that they still have the benefit that was promised them for the year.” 

At a previous conference regarding the future of the program, House Minority Leader Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) pledged that the House Republicans would not drop the ball on this issue and would address the issue and make sure Michigan families are getting the benefits they need.