Gretchen Whitmer’s Solution for Broken Child Welfare System: ‘Sexual Orientation’ and ‘Gender Identity’ Consulting

Months after a federal judge described the state of Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer’s child foster care system as “devastating,” the Democrat’s administration is turning to an atypical antidote: a “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” consultant.

Whitmer’s Children’s Services Agency on September 12 issued a contract proposal for a “Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Expression (SOGIE) Consultant” to assist the agency’s “Diversity Equity and Inclusion Unit,” documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon show. Included in the proposal are directives to distribute surveys on “the needs and concerns of LGBTQIA+ … children,” develop “training curriculum” on topics such as “implicit bias,” and identify “community services for Native American Two Spirit youth.”

The proposal comes as Whitmer faces a high-profile reelection bid against Republican challenger Tudor Dixon. It also comes as the Democrat’s Children’s Services Agency faces scrutiny from a federal judge over a “devastating” January report that detailed the foster system’s shortcomings. The issues laid out in the report, however, seemingly have little to do with “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”

In one case, two foster children were found wandering around a hotel unsupervised after the children’s caregiver asked an unnamed “male friend” to watch them. In another, a foster parent allowed a 12-year-old to supervise seven younger children—including a blind and autistic 10-year-old and a 2-year-old—while the foster parent left home to run an errand. The two-year-old twice left the house “dirty and without pants,” and police later described “deplorable conditions” at the foster home, such as “spoiled food and garbage strewn throughout, rabbit feces outside a rabbit cage, and child access to alcohol and pet food.” In both cases, the report states, Whitmer’s Children’s Services Agency did not find evidence to substantiate claims of “improper supervision.”

Still, the September contract proposal expresses optimism that a focus on “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” will “encourage a culture shift,” increase “resources within child welfare of people who are marginalized,” and “create increased sensitivity on issues relating to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) population within Children’s Services.” Both Whitmer and Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services did