Lansing State debuts toll-free child abuse call-in plan

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- A new call-in system for reporting abuse and neglect debuted Monday in Michigan, another step toward compliance with a court-ordered mandate for the state to improve conditions for children needing protective services. The new system establishes a single phone number statewide for reporting abuse or neglect related to children and adults. The number will be staffed around-the-clock, including weekends and holidays. Decisions on whether to investigate a child abuse case are expected to be made on the spot, no matter what time of day or night, before being directly referred to county-level child protective services staff. The statewide complaint intake system will be based in Kent County, where a six-county pilot program testing the system has run since September. The statewide system replaces one where calls were made to individual Department of Human Services county-level offices, which sometimes led to inconsistent results. "The virtue of having a statewide, centralized intake is that you have consistency in the standards that the state is applying on the law of abuse and neglect," said Maura Corrigan, director of the Michigan Department of Human Services. "You don't get local variations in standards." The new, toll-free phone number will be available to both the general public and those mandated by law to report suspected child abuse and neglect such as teachers and doctors. The centralized system is likely to increase the number of child abuse complaints lodged with the state. Corrigan, a former Supreme Court justice, has made complying with terms of a settlement related to child protective services and foster care a high priority since becoming the Department of Human Services director in early 2011. A whiteboard hanging in the DHS office notes several of the settlement goals and the agency's progress toward meeting them. The central call-in system goal will be met nearly two months ahead of the required compliance schedule. The phone number for reporting abuse and neglect.is 1-855-444-3911. Published: Tue, Mar 6, 2012