The Grand Traverse County Prosecutor’s Office issued a statement on Monday afternoon announcing that it has reinstated its partnership with the Traverse Bay Children’s Advocacy Center (TBCAC). Additionally, the brief press release noted that Grand Traverse County Sheriff Tom Bensley, Michigan State Police First Lieutenant Steven Porter, Traverse City Police Department Captain Matt Richmond, and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Grand Traverse County Director Barb LaRue had all “agreed to restore their successful working relationship” with the TBCAC as well.

The announcement comes over a month after collaboration between those entities and TBCAC broke down amidst disagreements about how TBCAC was being run. In mid-May, Grand Traverse County Prosecuting Attorney Noelle Moeggenberg and three other TBCAC board members resigned their posts with the nonprofit over complaints about organizational leadership, transparency, growth, and treatment of employees. Immediately after, Moeggenberg rescinded the agreement that the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office had to collaborate with TBCAC. Other TBCAC partners – including the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Department and Michigan State Police – also paused their partnerships.

On Friday, May 19, TBCAC CEO Lisa Migazzi sent an email to the entire TBCAC mailing list urging Moeggenberg in particular “to reverse her action, in the best interest of children in our community.” That day, Moeggenberg told The Ticker that she was concerned about a “grow at all costs” approach at TBCAC, and specifically about the leadership of Board Chair Patricia Warner and former CEO (and later, board member) Ginger Kadlec, as well as Migazzi. Moeggenberg said she had “asked for some hard things” of the TBCAC that she wanted to see “before my office can partner again,” including for Warner, Kadlec, and Migazzi to step down from their roles.

Monday’s press release noted that, “after internal restructuring at the center, a noticeable increase in transparency, ongoing efforts to support employees, and meaningful discussions that led to restored trust among partners, the parties determined that reestablishing our former partnership was in the best interest of all concerned.”

“We look forward to immediately resuming our partnership and to working together to provide the best possible services to children and families in our area,” the release stated.

The press release did not identify the specific “internal restructuring” steps that had convinced Moeggenberg and other parties to reboot their relationships with the TBCAC, or whether the exits of Warner, Kadlec, and/or Migazzi were part of that process. Notably, both Warner and Kadlec are no longer listed as board members on the TBCAC website, but Migazzi is at the moment still listed as CEO.

When asked to confirm who left TBCAC as part of the restructuring, Moeggenberg confirmed that Bill Brott – a tribal prosecutor with the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa & Chippewa Indians as well as the previous vice chair of the TBCAC board – had stepped up to be “the new chair of the board of directors at the TBCAC.” Moeggenberg declined to comment otherwise, and Brott could not be reached in time to give comment for this story.

The Ticker will share more details on this story as they become available.