State panel urges child welfare reform

Lansing -- A state-appointed task force has identified serious deficiencies in Michigan's child welfare system and is calling for dramatic reforms.

A new, 89-page draft report detailed systemic problems, including the state's over-reliance on outside-of-home placement of children, a lack of uniform screening of children and families for treatment and a lack of collaboration among agencies to provide uninterrupted help.

The report's findings, posted on the Michigan Department of Human Services Web site, present a rare, self-critical look at the state's safety net for children who are victims of abuse and neglect or caught in the juvenile justice system. The report was drafted by the Michigan Child Welfare Improvement Task Force, established last year by Ismael Ahmed, director of the state Department of Human Resources.

The report, which also makes ambitious recommendations to overhaul the department's priorities, is significant because many of its findings echo concerns some child advocacy groups have been citing for years.

"Over and over and over again, the report says what we say: Michigan takes away too many children who could have safely remained in their own homes had the right kinds of help been made available," said Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, based in Alexandria, Va.

The task force found that state funding was disproportionately going toward programs such as foster care or group living, which pull children from their homes, rather than funding abuse or delinquency prevention programs.

The task force said there is a disproportionate number of African-American and Native American children in the child welfare system. The situation in part reflects an apparent bias welfare workers have against black parents, while a lack of consideration of tribal sovereignty laws is cited for the latter group.

Several changes require cooperation from the courts and state legislators, like revising Medicaid policy to increase mental health treatment for children.

In some reform recommendations, funding could be the greatest obstacle. Gov. Jennifer Granholm has proposed $10 million in cuts to the department for 2010.

"You can take the same dollars and just figure out where to put them in the system," said Sen. Gilda Jacobs. "(But) there is going to be less of it."

The task force -- which consists of 85 lawmakers, child welfare advocates and university officials -- was formed last year in the midst of a class-action lawsuit against the state filed by the New York-based advocacy group Children's Rights.

"This is not an attack on the department," said Pat Babcock, co-chair of the task force and former department director. "This is to revitalize and give new direction to child welfare services."

Ahmed, who would be in charge of carrying out the recommendations, was not available for comment.

"The Michigan Department of Human Services is already undergoing child welfare reform as we seek to protect the state's vulnerable children, adults and families," said Gisgie Dávila Gendreau, spokeswoman for the department. She said the department has been working with the courts, for example, to increase the number of children who are moved to permanent homes.

Sheryl Calloway of the Association for Children's Mental Health in southwest Detroit helps birth parents get counseling, drug treatment or suitable housing needed to reunite with their children.

She said if the department focused more on keeping families together rather than relocating children, families may be more inclined to seek help earlier.

"People don't really feel like, 'They're here to help me,' " she said. "They feel like the finger is being pointed at them."