Chapter 18: Paying the Costs of Juvenile Proceedings
In this chapter. . .
This chapter discusses the sources of funds used to pay the costs associated with court proceedings involving juveniles. Specific discussions include:
•County, state, and federal funds;
•Juvenile and parental reimbursement of the costs of care;
•Juvenile and parental reimbursement for appointed attorney fees; and
•Allocation of payments.
18.1County, State, and Federal Sources of Funding
Except as otherwise provided, expenses incurred in cases under the Juvenile Code are to be paid out of a county’s general fund. MCL 712A.25(1).1 Although MCL 712A.25(1) requires a county to use general fund money to pay for expenses incurred in proceedings under the Juvenile Code, other statutory provisions allow the county, in certain circumstances, to use its Child Care Fund to pay, to be reimbursed by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) for a portion of such expenses, or to share costs, depending upon the placement ordered by the court and other factors. Situations in which the county may use funds other than general funds include:
•Intake, detention, detention alternatives, probation, foster care, diagnostic evaluation and treatment, shelter care, or any other service approved by the office or county juvenile agency, including preventive, diversionary, or protective care services are paid out of a county’s Child Care Fund, with reimbursement by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) of 50 percent of eligible expenditures. MCL 400.117a(1)(h); MCL 400.117a(4)(c).2
•If a juvenile is referred to the DHHS for placement and supervision under MCL 400.55(h), the costs of care and services are paid out of the county’s Child Care Fund, with reimbursement by the DHHS of 50 percent of eligible expenditures. MCL 400.55(h); MCL 400.117a(1)(h).
•If a juvenile is committed to the DHHS under MCL 712A.18(1)(e) (delinquency or designated case proceedings) or MCL 769.1(3) or MCL 769.1(4) (automatic waiver proceedings), the county must reimburse the DHHS for 50 percent of the costs of care and services. MCL 803.305(1).
•If a juvenile and the placement ordered by the court are eligible for federal Aid to Dependent Children—Foster Care under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, 42 USC 670 et seq., the county, state, and federal governments may share the costs of care and services, depending upon the placement ordered.
The DHHS must distribute money appropriated by the Legislature to counties for the cost of juvenile justice services as provided in MCL 400.117a(4)(a)-(j). MCL 400.117a(4). Payment for expenditures for children placed with the DHHS for care, supervision, or placement (including children who are within the court’s jurisdiction under MCL 712A.2(a) and MCL 712A.2(b)) must be paid by the DHHS for all undisputed charges. MCL 400.117a(4)(a).3 Payment for expenditures4 for children not placed with the DHHS for care, supervision, or placement (including children who are within the court’s jurisdiction under MCL 712A.2(a) and MCL 712A.2(b)) must be paid by a county and be reimbursed by the DHHS for all undisputed charges. MCL 400.117a(4)(b).
The purposes for which funding under MCL 400.117a must be distributed as provided under MCL 400.117a(4) may be allowed unless otherwise accessible and available by other public assistance programs necessary to achieve the goals and outcomes for in-home care or out-of-home care, and reimbursement must not be made for costs associated with an otherwise eligible child or family, or both, if the reason for the unavailability of public assistance is due to intentional program violations and disqualification of any public assistance. MCL 400.117a(5).
The Child Care Fund consists of funds appropriated by a county for “juvenile justice services.” MCL 400.117c(1). A “juvenile justice service” is defined as:
“[A] service, exclusive of judicial functions, provided by a county for juveniles who are within or likely to come within the court’s jurisdiction under . . . MCL 712A.2, or within the jurisdiction of the court of general criminal jurisdiction under . . . MCL 600.606, if that court commits the juvenile to a county or court juvenile facility under . . . MCL 764.27a.[5] A service includes intake, detention, detention alternatives, probation, foster care, diagnostic evaluation and treatment, shelter care, or any other service approved by the office or county juvenile agency, as applicable, including preventive, diversionary, or protective care services. A juvenile justice service approved by the office or county juvenile agency must meet all applicable state and local government licensing standards.” MCL 400.117a(1)(h).
The Child Care Fund must be used to pay the costs of providing foster care for juveniles under the jurisdiction of the Family Division or a court of general criminal jurisdiction. MCL 400.117c(2). The Child Care Fund may be used to pay for placement in the Michigan Children’s Institute or for maintaining the juvenile as a public ward under the youth rehabilitation services act. MCL 400.117c(3). The Child Care Fund may also “be used for programs and practices starting when a complaint, referral, or petition is generated by the local prosecutor, law enforcement, or authorized school personnel for a youth at risk of juvenile court involvement through residential placement and reentry, excluding general prevention services for all youth at risk of juvenile justice system involvement. [DHHS] must align child care fund policies, budget requirements, and oversight practices to support these goals as well as to ensure appropriate use of funding.” MCL 400.117a(3).
Except as provided in MCL 400.117a(4)(j),6 the county amount distributed shall equal 75 percent of the annual expenditures from the county’s Child Care Fund “for in-home expenses including community-based supervision, services, and related practices, and per diem rates for the use of respite care and shelter for less than 30 days.” MCL 400.117a(4)(c). Except as provided in MCL 400.117a(4)(j), the DHHS must reimburse 50 percent of a county’s eligible annual expenditures from a county’s Child Care Fund “for residential services of detention and long-term residential placements.” Id. The reimbursement of annual expenses does not include reimbursement for a county’s capital expenditures. Ottawa Co v Family Independence Agency, 265 Mich App 496, 498-499 (2005). In Ottawa Co, 265 Mich App at 498, eleven Michigan counties filed suit seeking reimbursement from the DHHS for 50 percent of the costs they incurred for capital expenditures that included building, equipping, and improving juvenile detention facilities. The Court of Appeals concluded that reimbursement of a county’s expenditure is conditional. Id. at 500. The DHHS “is obligated to establish standards for reimbursing the funds and may withhold reimbursement if certain expenditures violate its rules.” Id. at 501. MCL 400.117a(12)7 limits the DHHS’s ability to reimburse a county by requiring reimbursements “based on care given to a specific, individual child.” Ottawa Co, 265 Mich App at 501.8 Relevant administrative rules and policies allow reimbursement of expenses necessary to provide direct services to children but severely limit reimbursement of capital expenditures because such expenditures are not attributable to the care of individual children. Id. at 502-503. The Court of Appeals also concluded that the DHHS’s failure to reimburse the counties for their capital expenditures did not violate the Headlee Amendment, Const 1963, art 9, §29. Ottawa Co, 265 Mich App at 503.
The Child Care Fund is used only by counties that are not county juvenile agencies.9 See MCL 400.117c(8).
The Child Care Fund must be used by the county to do all of the following:
“(a) Adopt a validated risk screening tool to guide diversion and consent calendar decisions.
(b) Adopt a validated risk assessment tool to use before disposition.
(c) Adopt a detention screening tool to inform the use of secure detention.
(d) Utilize research-based juvenile-specific probation standards as developed and approved by the state court administrative office.
(e) Employ a local quality assurance specialist to support the county with implementing research-based practices, excluding counties or tribes receiving the basic grant as described in [MCL 400.117e].” MCL 400.117a(13).
The Child Care Fund may also be used to “utilize juvenile client management software to allow for statewide juvenile justice data aggregation, analysis, and reporting.” MCL 400.117a(14). DHHS is required to promulgate rules, policies, and practices to implement the requirements of MCL 400.117a(13) and to oversee counties’ and tribes’ compliance with these requirements. MCL 400.117a(15). DHHS, in consultation with the state court administrative office, must establish performance measures for evaluating county adherence to the requirements in MCL 400.117a(13). MCL 400.117a(16). Beginning October 1, 2025, DHHS “must prepare and submit an annual report to the legislature on yearly child care fund juvenile justice expenditures and related performance measures. Id.
Effective January 12, 1999, pursuant to 1998 PA 518, the Legislature enacted the County Juvenile Agency Act, MCL 45.621 et seq. Under this act and other applicable statutes, a juvenile may be committed to a “county juvenile agency” rather than to state wardship.10 See MCL 45.627; MCL 769.1(3); MCL 803.301 et seq. However, because the act applies only to a county that was eligible for transfer of federal Title IV-E funds under a 1997 waiver, MCL 45.626, the act applies only to Wayne County. See House Legislative Analysis, SB 1185, December 9, 1998. Therefore, this subsection pertains only to Wayne County. However, Wayne County is not currently operating as a county juvenile agency. The information contained in this subsection has been included in the event that Wayne County begins to operate as a county juvenile agency in the future.
Wayne County must pay expenses for county juvenile agency services incurred in carrying out provisions of the Juvenile Code using the county’s block grant and other funds made available for that purpose. MCL 712A.25(2); MCL 400.117a(4)(d). To receive block grant funds, the DHHS must distribute appropriated money to Wayne County in equal quarterly installments in the amount of the county’s block grant as determined by MCL 400.117g. MCL 400.117a(4)(d). Wayne County is “not obligated under [MCL 712A.25(1)] to pay for juvenile justice services other than county juvenile agency services as required by . . . [MCL 400.117a].” MCL 712A.25(2). The DHHS is responsible for the costs of all juvenile justice services other than county juvenile agency services. MCL 400.117a(9).
“County juvenile agency services” are defined as:
“all juvenile justice services for a juvenile who is within the court’s jurisdiction under . . . [MCL 712A.]2(a) or [MCL 712A.2](d) . . . , or within the jurisdiction of the court of general jurisdiction under . . . MCL 600.606, if that court commits the juvenile to a county or court juvenile facility under . . . MCL 764.27a[11]. If a juvenile who comes within the court’s jurisdiction under . . . [MCL 712A.]2(a) or [MCL 712A.2](d) . . . is at that time subject to a court order in connection with a proceeding for which the court acquired jurisdiction under [MCL 712A.]2(b) or [MCL 712A.2](c) [(child abuse or neglect proceedings and waiver of court jurisdiction in divorce proceedings)], juvenile justice services provided to the juvenile before the court enters an order in the subsequent proceeding are not county juvenile agency services, except for juvenile justice services related to detention.” MCL 400.117a(1)(b).
D.Transfer of Case to Juvenile’s County of Residence
In juvenile delinquency proceedings, a case may be transferred from a county where the juvenile is brought before the court to the county in which he or she resides.12 MCL 712A.2(d). See also MCR 3.926(B). When a disposition is ordered by a court other than the court in the county where the juvenile resides, the court ordering disposition is responsible for any costs incurred in connection with the order unless:
•the court in the county where the juvenile resides agrees to pay such dispositional costs, or
•the juvenile is made a public ward and the county of residence withholds consent to a transfer of the case. MCR 3.926(C).
MCR 3.926(C) applies to delinquency cases and to certain designated case proceedings in which the court decides to impose a juvenile disposition. MCR 3.901(B)(1); MCR 3.926(G). MCR 3.907 applies to delinquency proceedings and designated proceedings. MCR 3.901(B)(2).
If the juvenile is a public ward, the juvenile’s county of residence “is liable to the state, rather than the county from which the youth was committed, if the . . . family division of circuit court of the county of residence withheld consent to a transfer of proceedings under . . . MCL 712A.2, as determined by the [DHHS].” MCL 803.305(1).
E.Federal Aid to Dependent Children in Foster Care
Michigan uses Title IV-E funds to pay for out-of-home placements for some juveniles who have been adjudicated delinquent. This source of funds may be used for court or public wards who meet eligibility requirements and are in eligible placements. Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, 42 USC 670 et seq., sets out requirements for distributing federal funds to states’ child protection and foster care systems. For more information on this topic, see http://www.acf.hhs.gov/cwpm/programs/cb/laws_policies/laws/cwpm/policy_dsp.jsp?citID=29. See also the DHHS’s Children’s Foster Care Manual (FOM), FOM 902 Funding Determinations and Title IV-E Eligibility.