Maryland failed to protect children under state care from being placed in homes where registered sex offenders lived. It’s one of numerous findings listed in an audit out Wednesday.

The audit documented additional problems ranging from lack of medical care for foster children to children living in hotels instead of homes. State auditors also found the Maryland Department of Human Services did not properly oversee the local social services offices in every county and Baltimore.

It’s the latest challenge for the Department of Human Services Secretary Rafael López, who has faced scrutiny for his handling of a contract for new benefits cards to protect against theft as well as a January arrest for driving under the influence.

David Turner, senior adviser and communications director for Moore, said López has made “important and critical strides” improving the agency’s oversight.

The audit, he said, “is a stark indication of how much more work there is to do” and also said the findings “must be addressed in the most certain terms, immediately.”

A spokesperson for López did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the audit on Wednesday.

In a response to auditors included with the report, López wrote that his department takes the audit findings “with the utmost seriousness.”

“The safety and well-being of Maryland’s children are our highest priority,” López wrote. His team listed a number of improvements they are making to their systems.

More than 13,000 children and more than 7,000 parents and providers are involved in the social services system per year, in programs such as foster care and guardianship and adoption assistance.

Officials from the state Office of Legislative Audits found “numerous issues that impacted the safety and wellbeing of children” in the care of the Social Services Administration, part of the state Department of Human Services.

Auditors found seven people on the Maryland Sex Offender Registry whose listed addresses were the same as approved “guardianship homes” where a total of 10 children were living.

This happened because the agency lacked comprehensive procedures to prevent people with criminal histories from being around children, the audit found.

And once homes were approved, the state did not periodically follow up to check whether any additional adults moved into the homes.

In one case, an individual convicted of sexual misconduct with a minor had the same address as a home where four children between the ages of 4 and 8 were living, according to the report.

And in another case, auditors found an employee of a group foster home who was on the Maryland Sex Offender Registry after being convicted years ago of sexually abusing a child. The employee “allegedly transported three foster care children for an inappropriate activity” and an investigation determined “there was evidence of abuse.”

The state also didn’t have a system for ensuring criminal background checks were done for vendors providing one-on-one services to foster care children living temporarily in hotels.

One contract employee had been convicted of murder in 1990, which should have disqualified them from working with children living in hotels, the audit found. The state in its response said the individual no longer works for that contractor.

The report detailed multiple failings of the state to check whether local offices were providing for children’s basic needs, such as medical and dental care, while under the state’s foster care system.

State regulations require foster children to have a health assessment within 60 days of entering the system, and annual medical exams and dental exams every six months after that.

As of May 2024, 540 children had not received a medical exam in the prior year, and 110 of them hadn’t had a medical exam in multiple years.

And 1,635 children hadn’t had a dental exam in the prior six months, including 140 who had never had a dental exam.

The audit found an alarming number of children living in hotel rooms, instead of a relative’s home, a family foster care home or a group home, the audit found.

During 2023 and 2024, a total of 280 children had lived in hotels at some point, including 82 who stayed in hotels long-term — three months to two years. The hotel stays cost the state $10.4 million over those two years, primarily for the one-on-one services provided to them.

López said at a Board of Public Works meeting last week that his agency has prioritized the issue and has reduced the number of children staying in hotels.

“We have focused like a laser on hospitals and hotels, which have been a challenge for Maryland for many decades,” López said.

There were also findings of financial mismanagement, such as mix-ups in establishing trust accounts for children to hold their benefits and weak guardrails to prevent overpayments to providers or recover overpaid funds.

The federal government fined the state $700,000 in 2024 for failing to meet foster care performance requirements, such as ensuring children are safe from abuse and are having their educational needs met.

Maryland House Republicans delivered scathing reactions to the state’s handling of the cases of vulnerable children. Del. April Rose, representing Frederick and Carroll counties called the findings disgusting, infuriating and heartbreaking.

“These are children who are under the care and guardianship of the state and deserve every protection we can give them,” she said. “This is a complete failure of the state’s most basic responsibility.”

Del. Wayne Hartman, a Republican representing Wicomico and Worcester counties, said, there was “no excuse for this level of complete negligence.”

Aubrey Edwards-Luce, director of the University of Baltimore’s Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts, said children deserve safety and also to have their needs met.

“It’s especially atrocious when children are removed from places where their needs are not being met and are moved into new situations where new harms and new deprivations are occurring,” she said.

The audit report was sent to a General Assembly committee that frequently holds hearings on audits. Democratic co-chair of the committee, Del. Jared Solomon of Montgomery County, said he was “deeply concerned” by the findings and that the committee will schedule a hearing later this fall.

“We intend to get clear answers and collaborate with DHS on solutions to make sure these problems are fixed,” he said.