A federal judge says Michigan is making progress but it would be "foolish" not to recognize that more needs to be done to improve foster care and child protection.
A court-appointed monitor on Wednesday turned in his latest report since the state settled a 2006 lawsuit over child welfare. Kevin Ryan says there were 1,800 children living with relatives in homes that weren't licensed last summer.
Ryan found that the Department of Human Services was not always timely in responding to abuse allegations. But he says there's been good work in other areas.
Detroit federal Judge Nancy Edmunds complimented DHS director Maura Corrigan but doubts the state can emerge from court oversight by the end of 2014.
Corrigan says a new computer system will help the department meet many benchmarks.