CPS Investigations of Child Sexual Abuse in Michigan

When a report says a child may have been sexually abused, Children's Protective Services (CPS), part of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and the police can both investigate at once. The department must seek the assistance of and cooperate with law enforcement within 24 hours after becoming aware that a child is the victim of suspected sexual abuse or sexual exploitation.^[2] The two cases answer different questions, use different standards of proof, and can end differently.

To report suspected abuse or neglect of a child, call 855-444-3911 any time, day or night.^[7] If a child is in immediate danger, call 911. Michigan's VOICES4 hotline offers an advocate by call or text at 1-855-864-2374.^[8]

This page follows the CPS side from the report to the possible outcomes: a case category, the central registry, and a family court petition.

How a report reaches CPS

Professionals on the Child Protection Law's list, including physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers, teachers, school counselors, law enforcement officers, members of the clergy and regulated child care providers, who have reasonable cause to suspect child abuse or neglect must make an immediate report to centralized intake.^[9] A written report follows within 72 hours after an oral report by telephone.^[9] Any other person, including a child, who has reasonable cause to suspect abuse or neglect may report to the department or a law enforcement agency.^[10]

For reporting purposes, "child abuse" includes sexual abuse or sexual exploitation by a parent, a legal guardian, any other person responsible for the child's health or welfare, a teacher, a teacher's aide, a member of the clergy, or an individual 18 or older who is involved with a youth program.^[11] The pregnancy of a child under 12, or a sexually transmitted infection in a child over 1 month but under 12, is by statute reasonable cause to suspect abuse or neglect.^[12] The duties and penalties for reporters are in Mandated reporters in Michigan.

The first 24 hours

Within 24 hours after receiving a report, the department must refer it to the prosecuting attorney and the local law enforcement agency if it meets listed requirements, or must commence an investigation of the child suspected of being abused or neglected.^[1] Suspected sexual abuse or sexual exploitation is one of the conditions that triggers the 24-hour duty to seek law enforcement's assistance.^[2]

The department's own authority has a boundary. Law enforcement involvement does not relieve or prevent the department from proceeding "if there is reasonable cause to suspect that the child abuse or child neglect was committed by a person responsible for the child's health or welfare."^[13] That phrase is defined to mean a parent, legal guardian, an individual 18 or older who resides for any length of time in the same home as the child, a nonparent adult (with stated exceptions), or an owner, operator, volunteer or employee of listed facilities such as a licensed child care organization.^[14]

Where a report indicates a violation of the criminal sexual conduct statutes, the department must transmit a copy of the allegation or written report and the results of any investigation to a law enforcement agency in the county where the incident occurred.^[15]

How CPS and police work together

The statute requires a shared framework. In each county, the prosecuting attorney and the department must adopt and implement standard investigation and interview protocols modeled on the Governor's Task Force publications, and the department and law enforcement must conduct investigations in compliance with them.^[16][17] If the case involves sexual abuse or sexual exploitation of a child, the department must refer it to the county prosecuting attorney, who must review whether the investigation complied with the protocol.^[18]

The child's interview is the part of this most families encounter. It is covered in Forensic interviews of children.

Rights and rules during the investigation

• Notice of the allegation. At the time a department investigator contacts an individual about whom a report has been made, the investigator must advise the individual of the investigator's name, whom the investigator represents, and the specific complaints or allegations made.^[3]
• Notice to a parent. If the child is not in the physical custody of the parent or guardian and informing them would not endanger the child, the local law enforcement agency or the department must inform the parent or guardian of the investigation as soon as it discovers that person's identity.^[1]
• Access at school. A school must cooperate, including allowing access to the child without parental consent if the department determines access is necessary. The department must notify the person responsible for the child about the contact at the time or as soon afterward as the person can be reached.^[19]
• Self-incrimination. The Michigan Constitution provides that no person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.^[20] A criminal investigation may be open at the same time as the department's, because the department must seek the assistance of and cooperate with law enforcement when sexual abuse is suspected.^[2]

The rules on police questioning are in When a detective calls.

How a CPS investigation ends: the five categories

After completing a field investigation, the department must classify the allegation in a single category and determine whether it must be classified as a central registry case.^[21]

Category	Statutory label	Basis stated in the statute
V	Services not needed	Following a field investigation, the department determines that there is no evidence of child abuse or child neglect.[21]
IV	Community services recommended	There is not a preponderance of evidence of child abuse or neglect, but the department's structured decision-making tool indicates future risk of harm to the child.[22]
III	Community services needed	There is a preponderance of evidence of child abuse or neglect, and the tool indicates a low or moderate risk of future harm.[22]
II	Child protective services required	There is evidence of child abuse or neglect, and the tool indicates a high or intensive risk of future harm; the department must open a protective services case.[22]
I	Court petition required	There is evidence of child abuse or neglect and at least one listed condition is true, such as a petition being required under another provision of the Act or the child not being safe and a petition for removal being needed.[21]

In response to a Category I classification, the department must submit a petition to the court if one is not otherwise required and must open a protective services case.^[21]

The central registry

The central registry is "a repository of names of individuals who are identified as perpetrators related to a central registry case" in the department's statewide electronic case management system.^[4] It is a child-protection record, separate from the public registry described in The Michigan sex offender registry: an overview.

How a name gets there

There are two routes. The department must classify a confirmed case of sexual abuse or sexual exploitation as a central registry case.^[5] "Confirmed sexual abuse" means a confirmed case involving sexual penetration, sexual contact, attempted sexual penetration, or assault with intent to penetrate as those terms are defined in the criminal sexual conduct statute, and a "confirmed case" is one the department has determined by a preponderance of evidence.^[4] Separately, a court entering a conviction under the criminal sexual conduct chapter involving a minor victim must request that the conviction be classified as a central registry case.^[5]

Notice and a hearing

Within 30 days after classifying a central registry case, the department must notify each person named as a perpetrator in writing, by registered or certified mail with delivery restricted to the addressee. The notice must set out the right to request expunction of the record and the right to a hearing if the department refuses.^[23]

If the department denies a request to amend, the person may request a hearing within 180 days from the date of service of notice of the right to a hearing.^[23] The hearing is before an administrative law judge, who determines by a preponderance of the evidence whether the record meets the statutory requirement and should be amended or expunged.^[23] Those amendment and hearing provisions do not apply to a person listed because of a conviction.^[23]

How long it lasts and who can see it

Except as the section otherwise provides, the department must maintain central registry information until it receives reliable information that the perpetrator is dead.^[24] The statute allows a request for a removal hearing not more than once every 10 years, but its requirement that the department hold that hearing is written "except for confirmed sexual abuse or confirmed sexual exploitation."^[24]

A person listed because of a conviction uses a different route: not more than once every 10 years, a motion to the convicting court, at which the individual is presumed to be a risk to children and carries the burden.^[25] If the investigation does not show sexual abuse by a preponderance of the evidence, or a court dismisses a petition on the merits after an adjudication hearing, the identifying information must be expunged from the central registry once appellate remedies are exhausted.^[25] The section was last amended effective November 1, 2022; the earlier rules are not described here.^[25]

An individual or organization for whom a person is applying for employment, child care licensing or a volunteer role may, with appropriate authorization and identification, request and receive confirmation of central registry placement if the work includes contact with children.^[26] A parent who has reason to believe another caregiver may place the child at risk may also receive confirmation, through the office of the friend of the court.^[26]

When CPS must go to family court

For the most serious findings the statute removes the department's discretion. The department "shall submit a petition" to the court if it determines that a parent, guardian, custodian, or a person 18 or older who resides for any length of time in the child's home has abused the child or a sibling and the abuse included criminal sexual conduct involving penetration, attempted penetration, or assault with intent to penetrate.^[6]

In such a petition, if a parent is a suspected perpetrator, or is suspected of placing the child at an unreasonable risk of harm by failing to take reasonable steps to intervene, the department must include a request for termination of parental rights at the initial dispositional hearing.^[6] The request is the department's; the decision is the court's, and the statutory grounds include a parent's conviction of a criminal sexual conduct offense where the court determines that termination is in the child's best interests because continuing the parent-child relationship would be harmful to the child.^[27] See Termination of parental rights and Custody and parenting time after a sex-offense conviction.

Three proceedings, three standards

Proceeding	Who decides	Standard named in the sources
CPS confirmation	The department	Preponderance of evidence.[4]
Central registry hearing	An administrative law judge	Preponderance of the evidence.[23]
Criminal trial	A jury or judge	Proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, as the model instruction on a complainant's testimony states.[28]

Because the standards differ, the outcomes can differ. A confirmed CPS case does not require a criminal charge, and a criminal case can be charged whatever category the department assigned; each decision is made by a different body under its own rule.^[5][29]

What people get wrong

One mistake is assuming CPS involvement ends when police take over. The statute says the opposite where a person responsible for the child is suspected.^[13] A second is confusing the central registry with the public sex offender registry; the central registry is a department record with access limited to listed requesters.^[4][26] A third is assuming a report can be made safely only with proof. The duty to report rests on reasonable cause to suspect, and a good-faith reporter is immune from civil or criminal liability.^[9][30]

Families on either side of an allegation can find more in When a child discloses abuse and When a family member is accused. The sister guide covers the overlap with domestic violence in CPS and domestic violence.