“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes” is an old Latin quote that means, “who watches the watchers?”, or more simply, “who guards the guards?” And when it comes to Michigan’s Child Protective Agency, this couldn’t be a more poignant question. But the answer in this case is the Office of Children’s Ombudsman.
The Office of Children’s Ombudsman, while they are not an agency that you hear much about, plays a vital role in Michigan’s child welfare system. This is the agency that investigates complaints about children who are involved in Michigan’s child welfare system due to abuse and neglect. This means any child involved with children’s protective services (CPS), foster care, adoption, and/or juvenile justice. They are the watchdog agency that keeps tabs on DHHS and any other organization that directly affects the health and well being of abused children in Michigan. And according to a recent report, CPS is in trouble again. Specifically, CPS in Allegan County.
It all started with Corey LaValley. He shot and killed his girlfriend, Debra Sheppard and her two children, 12-year-old daughter, Emma McComber, and 10-year-old son, Corey LaValley Jr. and then set their trailer on fire, with the bodies inside it. LaValley was arrested and has since pleaded guilty to three counts of second degree murder. But the issue at hand is why he had access to the children in the first place.
According to William McComber, he contacted CPS while his daughter was still alive, to report LaValley’s abuse of her. But nothing was done. And the 12-year-old was left in an environment where her life was at risk. And she and her mother and brother paid with their lives.
In their report on the issue, The Office of Children’s Ombudsman stated that they had investigated CPS’s procedure in handling the case, and discovered that agency workers had not complied with state law in addressing the situation. They recommended that Allegan County CPS provide more training to agency workers on the requirements needed to verify the well-being of children and how to properly complete safety assessments.
Allegan County CPS has made a formal statement in response, saying that they agree, and have already provided their staff with the additional training necessary to meet the requirements. However, no disciplinary action was taken against any agency workers. Bob Wheaton, the spokesman for the state Department of Health and Human Services, made a public statement recently, regarding the issue, saying, “We believe we always need to do what we can to protect the safety and well-being of the children, so we are very responsive to these types of recommendations.”