|
Child Welfare Services
Child Welfare Services staff contact: Darla Brandon
In 2003, the Michigan Supreme Court created the Child Welfare Services division within the State Court Administrative Office. Child Welfare Services provides support and management assistance to circuit court family divisions on child welfare issues, including:
- Adoption
- Absent Without Legal Permission (AWOLP)
- Foster Care
- Child Abuse/Neglect
- Termination of Parental Rights
- Foster Care Review Board
Child Welfare Services administers the following programs:
Absent Without Legal Permission (AWOLP)
Child Welfare Services staff liaison: Kelly Howard and Deb Marks
In October of 2002, the Supreme Court began requiring circuit courts to assist the Department of Human Services in locating children who are identified as being Absent Without Legal Permission (AWOLP). These are children who have either run away from their foster care placement, or who have been abducted from their placement by a parent. Child Welfare Services monitors AWOLP caseloads and provides training to courts on prevention methods.
Child and Family Services Review
Child Welfare Services staff liaison: Kathy Falconello
Child and Family Services Reviews are conducted by the Children's Bureau within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, and are designed to help states achieve more timely permanency decisions and establish stronger safety guarantees for abused and neglected children.
Court Improvement Program
Child Welfare Services staff liaison: Kelly Howard
The Court Improvement Program is a collaborative program in which Child Welfare Services works with the Department of Human Services, local courts, child advocates, and attorneys to assess our foster care and adoption laws and judicial processes, and to develop and implement a plan for system improvement.
Data
Child Welfare Services staff liaison: Angel Sorrells
The Data Collection and Analysis Grant (data grant) funds the ability for courts and the Department of Human Services to share and study data to ensure that children in the abuse and neglect system receive the best and most timely permanent placement possible. The Department of Human Services signed a data sharing agreement with the State Court Administrative Office in June 2008. Pilot counties have been identified and work has begun to identify strengths and weaknesses in our child welfare system. The ultimate goal is for data collection and analysis to be taken statewide in the coming years.
Foster Care Review Board
Child Welfare Services staff liaison: Kathy Falconello
The Foster Care Review Board program is a system of third-party review of randomly-selected child foster care cases. The program was established by the legislature to help ensure safe and timely permanency for children in the state foster care system and is comprised of citizen volunteers who serve on one of 30 review boards throughout the state.
Title IV-E
Child Welfare Services staff liaison: Jenifer Pettibone
Title IV-E is a federal funding program that helps states pay for the costs of certain children who are removed from their home due to child abuse or neglect. Title IV-E eligibility is based on information provided when the child is initially removed from his or her home, and the child welfare agency assumes legal responsibility for the child.
The Child Welfare Services division provides training on federal Title IV-E requirements. It has also developed a listserv to share information between local courts and the Department of Human Services regarding Title IV-E requirements, upcoming audit information, and trainings.
Periodically, the federal government conducts an audit to ensure that states are spending the federal funding correctly, and following the federal guidelines required to obtain the funding. Collaboration and communication between the courts and the Department of Human Services is critical to a successful audit. Child Welfare Services and the Department of Human Services continually work together to ensure collaborative efforts between the State Court Administrative Office, local courts, state, and local Department of Human Services offices.
Training
Child Welfare Services staff liaisons: Maribeth Preston and Joy Thelen
Child Welfare Services continues to implement judicial, attorney, and field worker trainings targeted toward child welfare system improvement. The trainings are based on Court Improvement Program committee findings and are developed collaboratively with various stakeholder community agencies, the Governor's Task Force on Children's Justice, and the Department of Human Services.
CWS Webcasts - enroll in upcoming webcasts and view archived training programs
CWS Training Calendar
Publications
Child Welfare Services staff liaison: Joy Thelen
The State Court Administrative Offices publishes a wide variety of brochures, pamphlets, court forms, manuals, and other similar publications for use by the courts and the general public. >>See publications specific to Child Welfare Services.
Recently Enacted Legislation (since January 2008)
Public Act 199 of 2008 (SB 668): Effective July 11, 2008, this act amends MCL 712a.19b(5) to require the court to find, in addition to grounds for termination of parental rights, that termination of parental rights (TPR) is in the child’s best interests. 2008 PA 199 also amends MCL 712a.19b(4) to eliminate the automatic suspension of parenting time when a TPR petition is filed, and instead, allows the court to suspend parenting time when appropriate.
Public Act 200 of 2008 (SB 669): Effective July 11, 2008, this act amends MCL 712a.19a to allow the family division of the circuit court to order a guardianship as a permanency plan in lieu of terminating parental rights. 2008 PA 200 also requires the court to obtain the child’s views regarding his or her permanency plan at permanency planning hearings, and aligns Michigan law to the federal Adoption and Safe Families Act which requires a termination petition be filed if a child has spent 15 out of the last 22 months in foster care, with certain exceptions.
Public Act 201 of 2008 (SB 670): Effective July 11, 2008, this act amends MCL 712a.13b to require the agency to notify the court and the child’s L-GAL of a change in foster care placement. The notice may be provided electronically to the court, and the notice must include the following information:
(A) The reason for the change in placement.
(B) The number of times the child has changed placements.
(C) Whether the child will be required to change schools.
(D) Whether the change will separate or reunite siblings, or affect sibling visitation.
Public Act 202 of 2008 (SB 671): Effective July 11, 2008, this act amends MCL 712a.19 to authorize the Department of Human Services to implement concurrent planning, which is a process of working towards family reunification, while at the same time establishing a back-up permanency plan in case the child cannot be returned home safely.
Public Act 203 of 2008 (SB 672): Effective July 11, 2008, this act amends MCL 712a.19c to allow the family division of the circuit court, with the consent of the Michigan Children's Institute (MCI) Superintendent, to order a guardianship as a permanency plan in post-termination cases.
Public Act 260 of 2008 (SB 170): Effective August 4, 2008, this act creates the Subsidized Guardianship Assistance Act to allow the Department of Human Services to pay a subsidy to certain guardians of foster children.
Other Family Division Matters
Other Links of Interest
General Contact Information
Child Welfare Services
State Court Administrative Office
P.O. Box 30048
Lansing, MI 48909
517-373-8036
FAX 517-373-8922
|
