If you live in Michigan, chances are you've heard rumblings of home school regulation.
There's just one problem.
Even after more than a year of rumblings, there's no bill.
Just a LOT of talk.
Talk heated up when AG Dana Nessel mentioned home schooling last December, but the real story was a 20-year MDHHS/CPS employee being charged with multiple counts of child abuse.
However, she offered distractions like home school regulation, and the media followed her lead.
Practically everyone* in Michigan fell for the distraction, and I think an MDHHS cover-up is going on right under our noses.
But don't take my word for it. Watch AG Nessel's press conference for yourself.
*I've seen only one podcaster discussing it: the Steve Gruber show interviewed Jarret Skorup of the Mackinac Center.
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I haven't seen any recent developments on this investigation.
This Lansing State Journal report from December 4 fills in some gaps in the story.
Nessel: Clinton County foster, adoptive parents abused children for 'financial gain'
LANSING — The Michigan Attorney General’s Office has issued arrest warrants for two Clinton County couples in what the office has described as a conspiracy to adopt dozens of children and then cover up physical and psychological abuse "all for personal financial gain."
Jerry and Tamal Flore, and Tammy and Joel Brown are the subject of the warrants, the AG’s Office announced during a Monday afternoon news conference in downtown Lansing. All four had previously been charged, but those cases were dismissed by a prosecutor and judge.
"The allegations in this matter are heinous and egregious," Attorney General Dana Nessel said. "In the area of child abuse, the harms caused to an individual's mental health are often, unfortunately, overlooked. Abusive behavior by any parents — adoptive or biological — is unacceptable and will not and cannot be tolerated."
Nessel said her office is giving the Flores and Browns until Friday to turn themselves in to law enforcement.
David Carter, an attorney for Tamal Flore, said his client will turn herself in by Friday, but he criticized the investigation and prosecution.
"It seems to me like they're grasping at straws and trying to save themselves from a civil suit," Carter told the State Journal.
Mary Chartier, Joel Brown's attorney, said in a statement that the previous case was dismissed due to lack of evidence.
"We believe the same result will occur this time around," she said. "We won in court once, and we’re confident that we’ll do so again."
Additional messages were left seeking comment from attorneys who represented the Flores and the Browns during the past prosecutions. The AG's Office has brought more charges than they previously faced.
Joel Brown, 54, faces five charges, including first-degree child abuse, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. He's also charged with conspiracy to commit child abuse and interfering with a crime report.
Brown is a former child advocate with the children's services agency within the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Nessel said. She added that he was placed on unpaid leave in 2022 and has since been fired.
Tammy Brown, 53, faces three charges, including first-degree child abuse and conspiracy to commit child abuse.
Jerry Flore, 58, faces 11 charges, according to information the AG's Office released, including six counts of first-degree child abuse, conspiracy to commit child abuse and interfering with a crime report.
Tamal Flore, 56, faces 17 charges, including six counts of first-degree child abuse, six counts of third-degree child abuse and conspiracy to commit child abuse.
"These egregious allegations highlight not only a moral and legal failure of those entrusted with the children’s care," Nessel said, "but a failure in our systems to ensure children placed in custody are properly taken care of."
Dozens of children since 2007 were under care of the Flores and Browns
Nessel said during the news conference that since 2007 nearly 30 children had been placed in the care of the Flores and Browns.
Nessel said on Monday "the children who are alleged to be victims in the case, the minor children who are the subject of the charges, are no longer in the Brown and Flores homes."
She added that her office is "urging" the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to review the arrangement to ensure all the children are safe.
The charges detailed in the arrest warrants relate to eight children the couples have had under their care, Nessel said. Others the office believes were abused are now past the statute of limitations for charges. She called on lawmakers to amend state law to extend the statute of limitation for child abuse.
The center of the case against the Flores and Browns is that they conspired together to bring in children from homes where they had been abused.
They then "subjected them to prolonged, routine and systemic mental and physical abuse under the guise of discipline," Nessel added, "and all for personal financial gain."
She said they were "easily able to manipulate" the system and received more than $1 million that should have gone toward care for the children.
Past cases ended with dismissals
All four previously had been charged by Clinton County prosecutors.
The Flores, Olive Township foster parents, were charged in late 2021 with multiple counts of second-degree child abuse.
Clinton County Prosecutor Tony Spagnuolo dismissed those charges in April 2023, saying only that he did so "because there was a continuing further investigation." He declined at the time to elaborate.
Police had said in that case that the longtime foster parents beat children with a boat oar, threw them down stairs, locked them in bedrooms for days, forced them to sleep in closets or on the laundry room floor, and withheld meals from them. The charges involved multiple children and stemmed from incidents that occurred as far back as 2014, officials said at the time.
A separate, related criminal case against Tammy and Joel Brown was dismissed in 2022 by Clinton County Judge Michael Clarizio. The Browns had been charged with first-degree child abuse.
That case, also prosecuted by the Clinton County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, ended when Clarizio ruled prosecutors had not presented enough evidence at the preliminary hearing for the case to move forward.
Clinton County prosecutors alleged that the couple knew their daughter was being hurt and traumatized while living with Jerry and Tamal Flore.
Defense attorneys for both couples said when cases were dismissed that their clients maintained their innocence, criticized local prosecutors for the way they handled cases and had amassed evidence in defense of their clients.
On Monday, Clinton County Sheriff Sean Dush said he brought the case to Nessel's office because the Clinton County prosecutor's office had been struggling with staffing issues.
Matt Mencarini is a criminal justice reporter at the Lansing State Journal. He previously worked for the Louisville Courier Journal as well a reporter in Illinois, Florida and Wisconsin.
There's a lot of detail in Attorney General's press release of December 4.
Any thoughts on when can we expect an update?
Filed complaints are linked in the release.
Attorney General Dana Nessel Charges 4 Adoptive Parents with 36 Child Abuse Crimes, Conspiracy
December 04, 2023
LANSING – Today, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced 36 criminal charges against Joel and Tammy Brown and Jerry and Tamal Flore, all of Dewitt. The Browns and Flores are accused of adopting children for financial gain and subjecting the children to abuse under the guise of discipline.
The charges, filed in the 65A District Court in Clinton County, arise from evidence of abuse against eight of the dozens of children adopted through their homes since 2007. Nearly 30 children have been either adopted or fostered through the Brown and Flore homes.
Joel Brown is a former Michigan Department of Health and Human Services employee, where he worked within the Children’s Services Administration Office of Family Advocate. It is alleged that Brown used his expertise in the field of child abuse investigations and the Child Protection laws to circumvent detection of the ongoing child abuse in his own home and that of the Flores.
“Children who end up in our foster care or adoption systems are often already coming from unbelievably vulnerable situations and deserve our utmost care,” said Nessel. “The Brown and Flore families preyed upon dozens of children who were removed from previously abusive biological homes and subjected the children to prolonged routine and systemic mental and physical abuse under the guise of discipline. These two families have adopted or fostered at least 30 children toward an end of immense financial gain.
“These egregious allegations highlight not only a moral and legal failure of those entrusted with the children’s care, but a failure in our systems to ensure children placed in custody are properly taken care of.”
Joel Brown, 54, faces five charges:
Count 1: Child Abuse 1st Degree, a potential life-sentence felony;
Count 2: Conspiracy to Commit Child Abuse 2nd Degree, a 10-year felony;
Count 3: Child Abuse 3rd Degree, a 2-year felony;
Count 4: Interfering with a Crime Report a 1-year misdemeanor; and
Count 5: Failure to Report Child Abuse, a 93-day misdemeanor.Tammy Brown, 53, faces three charges:
Count 1: Child Abuse 1st Degree, a potential life-sentence felony;
Count 2: Conspiracy to Commit Child Abuse 2nd Degree, a 10-year felony; and
Count 3: Child Abuse 3rd Degree, a 2-year felony.Jerry Flore, 58, faces 11 charges:
Counts 1-6: Child Abuse 1st Degree, a potential life-sentence felony;
Count 7: Child Abuse 1st Degree Committed in the Presence of Another Child, a potential life-sentence felony;
Count 8: Conspiracy to Commit Child Abuse 2nd Degree, a 10-year felony;
Count 9: Child Abuse 2nd Degree, a 10-year felony;
Count 10: Child Abuse 2nd Degree, a 10-year felony; and
Count 11: Interfering with a Crime Report, a 1-year misdemeanor.Tamal Flore, 56, faces 17 charges:
Counts 1-6: Child Abuse 1st Degree, a potential life-sentence felony;
Count 7: Child Abuse 1st Degree Committed in the Presence of Another Child, a potential life-sentence felony;
Count 8: Conspiracy to Commit Child Abuse 2nd Degree, a 10-year felony;
Count 9-10: Child Abuse 2nd Degree, a 10-year felony;
Counts 11-16: Child Abuse 3rd Degree, a 2-year felony; and
Count 17: Interfering with a Crime Report, a 1-year misdemeanor.The Browns and Flores were previously charged for abuse allegations. The Department of Attorney General (DAG) worked with the Clinton County Prosecutor’s Office and Clinton County Sheriff’s Office to take over this matter and assist with the investigation earlier this year following a preliminary exam. In the previous Clinton County proceedings, prior charges against Tammy Brown and Joel Brown were dismissed and charges against Tamal Flore and Jerry Flore were reduced. As a result of the re-opened investigation, any outstanding charges against the defendants were subsequently dropped.
The DAG’s investigation has included previous investigative documents obtained by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, as well as:
- Interviews with 10 of the adopted children (adults and minors), Child Protective Services and DHHS employees;
- Photos and videos from the home;
- Adoption subsidy payment and medical benefit records; and
- New medical evaluations on all potential victims.
As a result of the new investigation, the DAG has determined there is sufficient evidence to charge all four suspects with the above-mentioned charges.
“I am proud of the efforts taken by my department, members of the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office, local victim support organizations and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services who worked diligently to ensure justice is served and that the Browns and Flores will never be able to adopt again,” Nessel added.
Arrest warrants have been processed for all four defendants who have until Friday, December 8th to voluntarily turn themselves in.
Please note: For all criminal proceedings, a criminal charge is merely an allegation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. The Department does not provide booking photos.
###
Meanwhile, reports Michigan Capitol Confidential, the state is failing children under its care.
Auditor finds fault with state oversight of child welfare program
State data say 437 children harmed while under its care
Democrats in the Michigan Legislature have called for a homeschool registry, saying it would help ensure kids are safe. But the state is failing some children under its own supervision, its own data reveals.
The registry would apply to families who are not even suspected of child abuse or neglect. Meanwhile, 437 children were harmed while in the custody of the state during the 2023 fiscal year. The number was mentioned in a report produced by a court-appointed third party, which said it could not verify the performance of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
A July report released by the Michigan Office of the Auditor General, meanwhile, concluded that some child safety workers failed to follow state law. The state must investigate reports of abuse or neglect within 24 hours of a complaint, but this did not always happen, according to the report.
Elizabeth Hertel, the director of the human services department, wrote a letter in response, calling the auditor’s report “unethical and biased.” She said the report created its own standards by which to evaluate the department rather than using statutes or departmental policies. Hertel called the auditor’s standards arbitrary and unpredictable.
Before the state removes a child and places him in a different residence for reasons of safety, it must run background checks on the adults residing in the new home. But workers sometimes did not follow this protocol. The auditor found dozens of instances where adults in the new home had felony and misdemeanor convictions, including some for domestic violence and drugs.
The July report was a follow-up of a 2018 auditor’s report that revealed 17 “material conditions” of failure in the health and human services department. A ”material condition” is reserved for the most serious failures, with ”reportable condition” applying to less serious ones. The department had fully complied with five findings of the 2018 report, the July audit revealed, but it did not comply with two findings from 2018. It had “substantially complied” with one other finding and ”partially complied” with nine others.
Hertel wrote a letter to the auditor general July 8, criticizing the audit by saying it had created standards outside of statute and health department policies.
While Hertel also accused the auditor of bias, it is not clear why she said that. Lynn Sutfin, departmental spokesperson, didn’t respond to an email asking for clarification.
State Rep. Ann Bollin, R-Brighton has called for an increase in the auditor general’s budget to catch agency mistakes. Bollin, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee, did not respond to an email seeking comment.
The auditor general’s office did not officially respond to the letter, Kelly Miller, state relations officer for the office, told CapCon in an email. She did, however, summarize the July audit for CapCon:
“It states that material conditions still exist, indicating room for improvement, and that (the department) complied or partially complied with 15 of the 17 prior audit’s material findings, showing progress. This is a complex and sensitive topic and please know that we use our professionalism, experience, and auditing standards to produce factual and independent information for the agencies and legislators to use as they make decisions how best to provide government services to the public. We have extensive due process steps where we fact check every detail within our projects and provide multiple opportunities for the auditee to provide feedback on any verbiage they believe needs clarification.”
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