Lifelong Michigan education agency didn’t answer 60% of calls

Michigan’s newest government agency claims to help Michiganders from the cradle to the grave, but it didn’t answer 60% of incoming calls over a nearly two-year period, according to an audit from Auditor General Doug Ringler.

The Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential urged low-income residents to call with any questions about signing up for “affordable” child care.

But the department didn’t answer more than half of the calls it received, or roughly 72,000 calls out of the 120,000. The department only staffs its call center with two people.

The audit recommended that the agency make significant changes to meet the volume of calls received.

The agency administers Michigan’s Child Development and Care Program, which gives child care benefits to low-income residents.

From Oct. 1, 2022 through March 31, 2024, about 8,200 child care providers received scholarship payments from the Child Development and Care Program totaling $692.5 million for tending to 66,500 children.

The education agency sends out letters telling providers to call the Child Development and Care Program’s call center to report incorrect billings or overpayments, inquire about payment amounts, request password resets and ask other questions.

“License exempt providers must call the CDC call center within 10 calendar days to report a change in name, address, telephone number, or adult household members so MiLEAP can perform required background checks when applicable,” the audit notes.

MiLEAP, which Gov. Whitmer created in 2023 as the state’s second education agency, claimed in October that 51,000 children statewide have been enrolled in the Great Start Readiness Program, the state’s primary option for pre-K children. If accurate, the state will have added just under 9,000 more children compared to last year.

As of August 2025, the department still was not answering 60% of the calls it received, according to the audit.

After a 50-minute wait time, the phone service tells the person to call again and then hangs up.

The auditor flagged this as a “material condition” — the most severe shortcoming of an audited state office. The department blamed its problems on the COVID pandemic, which happened before it was created.