Change Priority #3: Greater funding will be secured, and funding will be used more flexibly, to achieve

the structural system and service reforms.

Specific Issue
Michigan’s current child welfare funding strategy makes significant investments in out of placement and significantly less in community based prevention and
early intervention services. Further the current approach does not maximize funding and provide opportunities to fill service gaps through the use of blended
funding and other creative approaches.

Concise Recommendations
1. Improve coordination of fiscal planning and funding of services across systems for children and families involved in the child welfare system.
2. Institute comprehensive change in Michigan’s funding system for services that support the safety, permanency, and well being of children and families. This
change anticipates expansion of funding along with reduction in the number of children placed in out of home care and reinvestment of any funds saved as a
result in front end services to preserve and support families. The new funding scheme will provide for:
a. Effective community services for prevention of abuse and neglect and delinquency.
b. Effective family preservation services.
c. Post placement and post-permanency services for child abuse and juvenile justice.
d. Medical, mental health, dental and substance abuse treatment services.
e. Transitional services for children and youth exiting the system.
f. Educational services for children during and after exit from system.
g. Reinvestment of state funds freed up by the federal stimulus adjustment of FAMP into community based prevention and early intervention for at risk
families.
3. Advocate with Congress and federal agencies for increasing federal funding to increase the availability of community-based, in-home services for children
and families.
4. Expedite planning and funding for Michigan’s federally recognized tribes to directly access and administer federal Title IV-E funds rather than requiring the
funds to flow through a Tribal/State agreement (ex. Expanded children’s cabinet role, joint hearings by house & senate appropriations subcommittees
regarding cross departmental system issues (HS, ED, DCH, DOC, Ombudsman, etc) effecting youth/families in child welfare programs).
5. Target specific funding changes and advocacy efforts to enhance critical program needs.

Expected Results
1. Increase the use of flexible funding so resources can follow the child throughout the continuum.
2. Increase collaboration around funding between state, tribal and local partners.
3. Decrease funding barriers to allow for flexible funding and leverage all possible revenue sources to maximize available funds.
4. Increase the use of data to help with decision making around how funds and resources are deployed.
5. Increase the use of incentives through performance based contracts that focus on family reunification.
6. Increase the utilization of federal resources to preserve state and local resources; can be helpful for subpopulations like:
a. Dual wards
b. Foster care
7. Increase the ability of the system to meet the immediate needs of families whose children have been placed into out-of-home settings.

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Change Priority #3: Greater funding will be secured, and funding will be used more flexibly, to achieve
the structural system and service reforms.
Action Steps Agencies Timeline Key Specific Outcomes
Assigned Stakeholders
1. a. Conduct annual joint interagency informational 1. DHS, DCH, 1. TBD 1. FCRB, Local 1. a. A legislative budget process based on knowledge of the
budget hearings, which include tribal representation, with MDE, Collaboratives, relationships between agencies.
DHS, DCH, DOE, MSHDA, and DELEG, focusing on child DLEG, Local courts, b. i. Improved efficiency
welfare services and treatments. MSHDA, Local arms of ii. Reduction in redundancy.
b. Charge the expanded cabinet or new cabinet SCAO, state iii. Increased services funding at the local level.
committee recommended under Change Priority #3 Tribal/State agencies, iv. Leveraging of private funding.
with coordination of budget, planning, and Partnership Private v. Cost savings.
development with state government branches and , Children’s agencies, vi. Involvement by all government branches in planning and
agencies: Cabinet Associations funding child welfare services.
i. Review current children’s services funding and representing vii. Funding decisions at the state and community levels driven
program requirements. agencies & by policy needs.
ii. Identify local policy and funding needs. stakeholders, viii. Improved efficiency and reduced redundancy across all
iii. Develop agreement on inter-branch, cross- MYOI, CIAO, branches, agencies and levels of government.
agency and cross-system strategic policy goals Universities – ix. Funding of essential high-priority recommendations of the
for children and families served by the child SSW, MAFAC, Child Welfare Improvement Task Force.
welfare system. Kinship c. i. Commitment from at least one non-governmental
iv. Develop inter-branch and cross-agency budgets Association, resource in each high-risk community to help leverage
that reflect these strategic goals, leverage and Legislature, support for the prevention, treatment and community service
maximize use of federal funds, and coordinate courts, state recommendations.
budget and spending plans to maximize the and private ii. Communities increase leveraged funding for prevention (e.g.,
impact of available funding. agencies, Child Care Fund).
v. Specify statewide accountability and outcome advocacy d. i. Information available to all parties to allow for informed
measures and goals for children’s services. groups, tribal decision-making.
vi. Blend Medicaid, child welfare, and other social service ii. Complete information about federal, state and local funding
appropriate funding where possible. organizations options and opportunities available to all government
vii. Develop a systemic annual plan and branches, levels and agencies.
implementation processes for addressing e. i. Improved coordination of planning and service delivery at the
deficiencies. local level will be improved.
viii. Formulate a plan with priorities for joint ventures ii. State and local dollar savings available to increase in-home
annually and then ask the independent and community-based services.
clearinghouse (recommended below) to identify
federal grant announcements that may support
those priorities
ix. Develop and prioritize funding proposals to
support the race equity, training and other
recommendations of the Child Welfare
Improvement Task Force.
c. Establish a relationship with the Office of Foundation
Liaison to explore how foundations and other forms
of philanthropy can assist in those communities with
a significant percentage of youth and families at risk

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 Action Steps Agencies Timeline Key Specific Outcomes
Assigned Stakeholders
of abuse and neglect.
d. Institute a university consortium in partnership with
the expanded Children’s Cabinet or new cabinet
committee recommended under Change Priority #3
(using the MPHI model) to provide an objective,
independent clearinghouse to serve as a resource to
all branches and levels of government. This
clearinghouse will:
i. Research information on the sources of and
regulation for federal funding for services for
children and families.
ii. Develop a knowledge base of program funding
and best practices to assure transparency and
accessibility of information on policy and
funding.
iii. Provide technical assistance to the Children’s
Cabinet regarding funding and policy
alternatives.
iv. Recommend and assist in developing
approaches to maximize federal funding.
v. Explore funding models of other states and best
practices (e.g. Indiana Office of Federal
Grants).
vi. Assist agencies in identifying and applying for
federal and private funding.
vii. Support the Children’s Cabinet’s coordination of
enterprise-wide child welfare budget and fiscal
planning.
viii. Identify new and emerging opportunities in
addition to those identified in the annual plan.
e. Incentivize and support collaboration efforts at the
local level.
i. Identify sources of flexible discretionary
funding. Provide funds to local level
counties/jurisdictions that agree to direct funds
toward locally established goals.
ii. Establish goals of safety, permanency, and well
being of children and families, as required by
federal funding sources, toward which local
counties/jurisdictions direct discretionary
spending.
iii. Ensure a single collaborative is established for
each community in the state to plan for cross-
system and cross-agency child welfare

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 Action Steps Agencies Timeline Key Specific Outcomes
Assigned Stakeholders
services. Include the local United Way and
local foundations, as well as human services
agencies, and other public and private
agencies, as participants in the collaboration.
iv. Increase local allocations by reinvesting state
and local savings -- achieved through improved
efficiencies, the reduction of redundancy, and
the reduction in high-cost out-of-home
placements -- into home and community-based
services.
v. Require reinvested funds, including state funds
that freed up as a result of changes in federal
match for Title IVE funded programs, be used to
expand and develop new community-based in-
home service options.
vi. Develop System of Care model demonstrations.
2. a. Explore, select and implement options to increase 2. DHS, 2. TBD 2. Legislature, 2. i. Increase in IVE eligibility for the juvenile justice population.
federal funding for services to juvenile justice youth. SCAO, courts, state ii. Transfer of foster care costs from the Child Care Fund to
Options include but are not limited to: Legislature, and private Title IV-E funding.
i. Establish law and process for courts to commit DCH, agencies, iii. Savings for the Child Care Fund.
delinquent youth needing placement to DHS, HSCBs, advocacy iv. Savings for the state due to the higher reimbursement
while retaining probation staff oversight. This presiding groups, tribal federal rate.
would shift the cost for placement of IV-E judges, social service v. Improved prevention and family preservation outcomes.
eligible youth in non-secure placements from DMB organizations vi. Development of new public and private agency business
the Child Care Fund to IV-E. models for serving children adjudicated delinquent.
ii. License court staff offices as child-placing vii. Reduced cost to the Child Care Fund resulting in savings for
agencies. This would allow for the courts to both counties and the state.
make an IV-E administrative claim for its b. Programs achieve measurable outcomes in the following areas:
probation staff. i. Reduce out-of-home placements.
iii. Claim costs of supervising youth in the ii. Reduce P.A. 150 commitments.
community to the extent they could be classified iii. Reduce ratio of placements to commitments, petitions,
as candidates for foster care. adjudications.
b. Legislature should authorize and DHS pilot an iv. Reduce historical growth rate. [of what?]
enhanced reimbursement percentage for the In- v. Reduce length of stay.
Home Care portion of the CCF (from 50% to 75%). c. The availability of home and community-based early intervention,
i. To be eligible for that enhanced funding prevention and treatment services for children and families will
programs would need to meet a set of increase as a result of reinvesting savings into the communities.
prescribed standards related to collaboration, d. i. Increase the effectiveness of necessary out-of-state
practice, efficiency, effectiveness and placements.
outcomes. ii. Ensure appropriate child and family communication and
ii. Eligible programs would be required to address visitation during placement.
one or more of the following: iii. Ensure good use of state and county funds when out-of-
(1) Mental health services home placements are necessary.
(2) Substance abuse services e. Increase mental health services for children.

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 Action Steps Agencies Timeline Key Specific Outcomes
Assigned Stakeholders
(3) Sexual offender treatment f. i. The proportion of services that are covered through the
(4) Community monitoring or tracking Medicaid Program will increase.
(5) School failure/truancy ii. The proportionate number of eligible children and families in
(6) Others to be determined the child welfare system in need of mental health and
c. The legislature should authorize and DHS pilot a de- substance abuse services who receive those services will
categorized funding stream for children and families increase.
not restricted by funding levels of the existing service g. New funding or increases in funding result in an increase in
categories. All or part of the money would be used services with no change in state funding.
for the county’s community-based, in-home family
preservation family foster care, group care,
independent living, and adoption purchase of
services.
d. The process for approving out-of-state placements
should be improved to ensure that any such
placement is appropriate to the needs of the child
and for providing oversight during placement to
ensure the child benefits from the placement as
intended.
e. The state Medicaid policy should be revised to
ensure that all DHS children identified as needing
mental health services, through screening and
assessment using standardized validated tools,
receive effective and appropriate mental health
treatment.
f. Funds currently being spent on "mental health
services" in DHS should be redirected and used for
match to Medicaid, as appropriate, in order to
maximize available resources to provide in order to
maximize available resources and provide effective
mental health treatment.
g. Create a reinvestment fund to carry forward savings
in state and private funding dedicated to serving
children and families (including, but not limited to
TANF, Medicaid, Social Services Block Grant, CCF)
to expand in-home, community-based services
3. Advocate that Congress and federal agencies: 3. DHS, 3. TBD 3. Legislature, 3. a. Savings to counties and state.
a. Eliminate the ADC look-back for IV-E. Governor’s courts, state b. Development of new public and private agency business models
b. Fund the full range of services with IV-E funding, Office, and private for serving children and families
regardless of child’s placement, matching the Congressio agencies, c. Children will achieve permanency in less time.
program’s business model with its goals. nal advocacy d. Provision of early intervention and prevention services based on
c. Increase funding to Safe and Stable Families that delegation, groups, tribal risk and without a mental health diagnosis.
allows increased flexibility and funding for services advocacy social service e. Permits use of modern technology, saves design and
for non-Title IVE eligible children. groups organizations, development costs and saves ongoing operation costs resulting
d. Mirror requirements for relative guardianship subsidy Michigan form duplicate data entry.

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 Action Steps Agencies Timeline Key Specific Outcomes
Assigned Stakeholders
to that of adoption subsidy: Judges
i. To remove the requirement for a 6-month Association,
licensed foster care placement prior to MCSSA
subsidized guardianship.
ii. To remove the requirement that relative
caregivers be licensed.
e. Restore the Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention grants for juvenile justice
programming to FY 2002 funding levels.
f. Increase in funding and flexibility in state
administration of the Child Care and Development
Fund (CCDF) block grant.
g. Allow states receiving fiscal penalties as a result of
Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSR)
deficiencies to reinvest the penalty dollars in
correcting the shortcoming and improving the child
welfare system. (As done in the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program – formerly Food
Stamps).
h. Focus additional funding on family preservation and
prevention.
i. Improve services for youth aging out of foster care to
ease the transition to adulthood.
j. Reauthorize the Child Abuse Prevention and
Treatment Act (CAPTA).
k. Revise federal requirements for child welfare
information systems to permit transferring data
between public and private contract agency
automated systems rather than require all data to be
originally entered in the state’s data system.
4. Expedite direct federal funding for tribal organizations: 4. Tribal court 4. TBD 4. Tribal court 4. a. Intermediate term: Streamlines administration for tribes and state
a. Tribal Partnership group convene to identify options judges and judges and b. Long term:
for individual tribes or tribal consortia to administer social social i. Increase ability of tribal social service organizations to
funds, the technical assistance needed to develop services, services, local provide timely and culturally relevant services to the children,
plans and implement these options. local DHS DHS offices youth, and families they serve.
b. Identify and arrange for technical assistance (TA), offices ii. Improve outcomes for children, youth, and families
including that available from Department of Health
and Human Services, tribal associations and other
TA providers, to assist in plan development and
implementation.
c. Develop plans and seek required federal approval.
d. Implement plans upon receipt of federal approval.

5. To the extent practical within the resource limits available 5. Children’s 5. TBD 5. TBD 5. a. Improved coordination of services for homeless, runaway, and

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 Action Steps Agencies Timeline Key Specific Outcomes
Assigned Stakeholders
to the state, consider program-specific funding Cabinet street youth.
enhancements: b. Increased understanding of needs of these youths
a. Restore funding for a staff position to coordinate c. Data collection demonstrates that the demand for housing is met
services for homeless, runaway and street youth, by suitable and appropriate supply.
and educate federal policymakers on the importance d. Improved support for foster parents and domestic violence
of a coordinated voice for these youth. victims.
b. The Tenant Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) e. Increased advocacy for needs of foster parents and domestic
program should be expanded to cover 2 years of violence victims.
supplemental rent for more youth. Support services f. Continuation of MYOI services for the foreseeable future, serving
must accompany rental support. Explore transitioning youth.
cooperative housing for high-risk youth, as is
available for seniors, families, and college students.
c. Provide financial support for a foster parent
advocacy group.
d. Provide support for a domestic violence advocacy
group.
e. DHS, together with private foundations, should seek
ways to sustain and expand MYOI beyond the end of
Casey funding in 2010, through additional
appropriations and other sources.

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