Michigan
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Pre-Service Training

All new foster and adoptive families are required to attend a minimum of 12 hours of GROW Caregiver training prior to licensure or adoption finalization. Families interested in adoption only have fewer training requirements than those who are interested in receiving foster care licensure. For example, adoption only families are required to take GROW training modules related to adoption to receive a certificate of completion. This applies to relatives and non-relatives. Because adoptive families have fewer training requirements than foster parents, there is no required additional training for families transitioning to adoption or guardianship.

Michigan does not require relative caregivers to become licensed to qualify for an adoption subsidy. Michigan is rolling out a new standard and process for the license type relative only. With the new standards, relatives do not need training to be licensed relative caregivers, but they need it to receive adoption licensure. For guardianship, relatives must be licensed to be eligible for a subsidy. Relative caregivers pursuing licensure need to complete a different set of GROW training modules than non-relative adoptive parents prior to licensure.

Services Offered Through the State’s Post-Permanency Support Program

Post-permanency services in Michigan are provided through eight Post Adoption Resource Centers (PARCs) throughout the state. The services PARCs provide are administered by private agencies under contract with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). There are a core set of services each PARC provides. To be eligible for PARC services, the family must require supportive services designed to provide ongoing stability as a family unit and/or prevent dissolution of the adoption or guardianship. Two other agencies also provide limited post-permanency services, as noted below.

Services include:

The need for an assessment is determined by what help the family seeks when they contact the PARC. For example, an assessment would not be needed if the family is requesting a support group. When an assessment is needed, PARC staff will work with families during the first visit or visits to identify the strengths and needs of the entire family, and use that information to develop an initial family-centered plan. Staff use the START 24/7 assessment—Start early, Trauma-informed, Attachment-focused, Resiliency- building, Therapeutic services. START 24/7 provides a framework for a relatively quick assessment that can be completed at the point of referral—purposefully brief but also very broad, in order to capture family strengths and areas for development. The family-centered plan developed after the assessment has two goals—to share information with the family about the assessment and to outline the goals and objectives that the case manager and family agree to work on. Included in the plan is a summary of the social history, areas of concern, assessment of family dynamics and positive supports, and assessment of safety or risk issues.

PARCs provide adoption-sensitive case management that includes the following:

  • Developing a family plan that identifies individualized strengths, services, strategies, and supports.
  • Referrals to needed services including counseling and mental health services.
  • Short-term, in-home interventions for families in crisis.

Initial contact to families is made within 24 hours of referral. Visits are held where and when it is most convenient to the families. Families can typically receive case management support for 6 to 12 months. Case managers are required to make the following contact with families:

  • Face to face with the family within 48 hours
  • Weekly in-home interventions for families in crisis or at risk of disruption
  • Meetings every two weeks, with 75 percent of meetings occurring in the home

PARCs provide 24-hour on-call support to families receiving case management services.

When a family is in crisis and therapy services are not in place, the PARC offers enhanced case management services. The state defines crisis intervention as services provided to families whose child is not currently receiving any therapy services, although PARCs also offer crisis intervention to other families if they assess that the placement is at risk of discontinuity. In such situations, PARC staff respond to the family within 24 hours of receiving a call, offer a home visit within 48 hours if the family wants it, and conducts an in-home visit within seven days. During the initial crisis, visits are at least weekly, but may be more frequent if needed.

All PARCS offer monthly adoptive and guardianship family peer-to-peer support groups in topics that reflect the interests of the participants. Groups have to be led or co-led by an adoptive parent and they can be virtual or in-person. Adoptive parents and guardians can attend as many or as few the of the support groups as they would like. Parents and guardians do not need to be receiving case management services to attend support groups.

The Adoption Family Support Network, operated by D.A. Blodgett St. John’s under state contract, also provides adoptive parent support groups across the state. The groups are parent led.

PARCs offer training and educational opportunities for adoptive and guardianship families. Families do not need to have a case manager to participate in training. Each region offers two parent conferences per year and a quarterly training. They can be virtual or in-person. Topics can include community resources, improving communication, self-esteem, problem solving, mental health diagnosis, therapeutic techniques, medication, parenting, and other topics of interest.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) also collaborates with Michigan universities to deliver ongoing training free of charge to foster and adoptive parents.

PARC staff provide information and referrals to local community services, therapists, special educational services, and community mental health services. Staff will also act as liaisons for adoptive and guardianship families with other service providers.

A family can receive educational advocacy as a part of case management services. Educational advocacy includes assisting the family with obtaining services that are required to be provided though the school district.

Through the Adoption and Guardianship Assistance Office, adoptive and guardianship families are able to apply for coverage of medical expenses that are not covered by other resources as long as the medical diagnosis is certified as having existing before finalization or as having been caused by an issue that existed before finalization. There are 30 categories of services available including such services as tutoring, therapy, and orthodontia.

MDHHS also funds out-of-home placements for children and mental health services for families in crisis.

In 2023, 60 families received case management services.

For more information, visit: https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/adult-child-serv/adoption/post-adoption-resources/post-adoption-resource-centers

Geographic Area Covered

Post-permanency services in Michigan are offered statewide. The state is divided into eight regions, each with an assigned Post Adoption Resource Center. By contract, all PARCs are required to provide the same set of services, however, available resources may vary by region.

Eligible Population for the Overall Post-Permanency Program

  • All families who adopted from the state’s foster care system

  • All families who adopted through intercountry adoption

  • All families who adopted through private adoption

  • Only families receiving guardianship assistance

Variations in Eligibility for the Post-Permanency Program

Families who have adopted from other states’ foster care systems may be eligible for services on a case-by-case basis. Michigan families who live out of state may be able to get support to identify resources but can’t participate in PARCs because home visits are required.

Cultural Responsiveness

Michigan is in the process of completing an equity assessment of adoption policies with a private consulting firm. Once completed, opportunities to bring more equity to adoption will be identified and acted upon. Currently, to ensure that services are culturally responsive, PARC staff are required to participate in the Pre-Service Institute (PSI) training for new caseworkers that includes the following:

  • Cultural awareness training
  • Bias training
  • Language assistance for completion of forms

Families in need of specialized services related to culture (LGBTQ2S+, interracial/transracial families, kin, etc.) can request those services from the PARC.  The PARC can make referrals to requested services or open a case management case.

Outreach and Engagement

Each PARC is contractually obligated to conduct outreach and engagement. The PARCs share information about post-permanency services through the following outreach:

  • Social media and website outreach
  • Up-to-date online calendar that lists dates, times, and locations of upcoming events and trainings
  • Outreach and collaboration with local community partners
  • Quarterly newsletter sent out to adoptive families
  • Annual report mailing

PARCs provide MDHHS information on a monthly basis about their efforts to reach and engage families.

How the Post-Permanency Program Is Operated

  • Through contracts or grants with multiple private agencies that offer mostly the same set of services, each operating in a different region

  • Through contracts or grants with multiple private agencies offering different services

  • By other state staff

Notes About Who Provides Which Service(s)

The PARCs are operated by the following:

  • P. KIDS operate the Post Adoption Resource Center in region 1.
  • Bethany Christian Services operates the Post Adoption Resource Center in regions 2, 3, and 4.
  • The Judson Center operates the Post Adoption Resource Center in regions 5 and 6.
  • Orchards Children’s Services operates the Post Adoption Resource Center in regions 7 and 8.

Michigan universities deliver ongoing training to foster and adoptive parents.

D.A. Blodgett St. John’s provides adoptive parent support groups across the state.

Some services to adoption and guardianship families are provided by MDHHS local county offices as well and by other MDHHS offices and the Adoption and Guardianship Assistance Office:

  • MDHHS Adoption and Guardianship Assistance Office operates the Medical Subsidy Program.
  • The MDHHS Office of Out of Home Care helps identify and fund out-of-home placements for adoptive and guardianship families.
  • The MDHHS Office of Child, Youth and Family Advocacy helps support families when there is a mental health crisis.

Adoption/Guardianship Assistance/Subsidy Review and Changes

Adoptive parents and guardians are required to submit a report once a year to the Adoption and Guardianship Assistance Office for the purposes of verifying continued eligibility for adoption and guardianship assistance. Reports are mailed out to families one month before a child’s birthday. If the family fails to respond to the letter, the subsidy may be put on hold for further investigation to ensure that payment to the family complies with federal regulations.

Families can request modification of adoption assistance provided the request does not exceed the maximum allowable assistance rate in the agreement. The maximum rate approved on the agreement cannot be renegotiated after finalization unless there is a legislative mandate that authorizes increases in the subsidy rate. Parents who agreed to a lesser amount than the maximum rate may request a renegotiation when extraordinary circumstances occur that will impact the child’s needs or family circumstances over an extended period of time using the Adoption Assistance Renegotiation Worksheet. If the family decides that the ongoing daily adoption assistance rate may be reduced, they may submit a written request for a reduction of the ongoing daily adoption assistance rate, at any time. This request must be made in writing and sent to Adoption and Guardianship Assistance Office for approval.

All guardianship subsidies are paid at the maximum allowable assistance rate and therefore cannot be renegotiated.

Tracking Adoption/Guardianship Discontinuity

The state formally tracks reentries into foster care via monthly dissolution reports generated from the state data system.  Through the equity assessment currently being conducted with a private consulting firm, the state is exploring causes of reentry, gaps in services, and populations most affected. MDHHS tracks instability related to residential care or psychiatric hospitalization for cases where they are financially supporting the placement.

Post-Permanency Program Spending (FY 2023)

  • $2 – 4,999,999 million

Funding Sources for the Post-Permanency Program (FY 2023)

  1. State funds
  2. Adoption savings (reported on CB 496 Part 4 – Annual Adoption Savings Report)

 

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