Department of Human Services budget provides reforms, funding to meet federal court settlement terms
LANSING, Mich. (Sept. 29, 2009) — The Association of Accredited Child and Family Agencies today hailed the work of Rep. Dudley Spade, D-Franklin Twp., Sen. Bill Hardiman, R-Kentwood, and other members of the Department of Human Services budget conference committee for protecting Michigan’s most vulnerable children even as the state grapples with a $2.8 billion budget deficit.
While forced to make painful cuts to the state budget, lawmakers are providing more options and cost-effective solutions in the state Department of Human Services budget to care for nearly 19,000 children in the state’s foster care system. The budget preserves programs that provide care to abused or neglected children and gives caseworkers and judges more freedom to select the best program to fit a child’s needs.
This change in foster care reflects a more consistent approach to state policy where local finances no longer drive treatment decisions for children. Under current policy, counties must pay 50 percent of the cost of sending foster children to nonprofit, community-based agencies. Meanwhile, counties don’t pay any of the cost to send children to state-operated foster homes.. That has created a situation where officials are pressured to send a child to the home that’s cheaper for the county, instead of the best placement for that child.
The DHS budget agreement eliminates that conflict. Going forward, counties will share in 25 percent of the cost of care, regardless of whether children are referred to state-operated or nonprofit programs. This will allow officials to make decisions based only on the treatment needs that are in the best interest of the child.
The budget also meets the stringent requirements of an October 2008 federal class action lawsuit settlement that requires smaller caseloads and more training requirements, among other significant reforms for Michigan’s nonprofit and public foster care, adoption and child protective services programs. The lawsuit was brought by Children’s Rights, a New York-based advocacy group that has taken similar actions in 14 other states and the District of Columbia. It uncovered a series of problems in the structure, oversight and financing of Michigan’s child welfare system.
“Finding solutions to these problems will take a multi-faceted approach, and nonprofit, community-based agencies look forward to continuing to work with the Department of Human Services and its dynamic director, Ismael Ahmed, to address these issues,” said Michael Williams, president of AACFA, a coalition of nonprofit, community based agencies that provide foster care, adoption and juvenile rehabilitation services throughout Michigan. “This partnership between public and private programs and institutions is critical to addressing the needs of the thousands of children in the state’s care. By relying on each other’s strengths, we can administer child welfare services in a more thoughtful and cost-effective way.”
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