-
Are Michigan’s in-Home Foster Care Prevention Efforts Failing Vulnerable Kids?
A recent study done here in Michigan reveals some very interesting results when it comes to foster kids in the Great Lakes state. But what do these results mean, and how do we interpret them in a way that best benefits children. According to the Youth Policy Lab and the Child and Adolescent Data Lab…
-
CPS May Have a Good Reason For Not Wanting You to Smoke Weed While You’re Pregnant! (Pt 2)
Welcome back and thanks for joining us again for this discussion on smoking weed while you’re pregnant, and why CPS may have a good point about that not being such a good idea. In the previous article we looked at some info from a recent study showing that smoking marijuana during pregnancy is directly linked…
-
CPS May Have a Good Reason For Not Wanting You to Smoke Weed While You’re Pregnant! (Pt 1)
CPS has always taken a dim view of moms doing drugs during pregnancy. In fact, babies who test positive for marijuana, heroin, cocaine or any other illicit substance in Michigan at birth are very often taken from their mothers and placed in foster care. With the recent legalization of recreational weed in Michigan, a lot…
-
CPS is Changing The Way They Handle Abuse & Neglect Cases Because of Covid19 (Pt 2)
Welcome back and thanks for joining us for this discussion on how the current Covid19 pandemic is reshaping the way CPS responds to child abuse and neglect situations. As we mentioned in the previous article, the agency has a history of being reactive, in that they have traditionally waited to hear a report about potential…
-
CPS is Changing The Way They Handle Abuse & Neglect Cases Because of Covid19 (Pt 1)
CPS has always been a reactive agency. As in: a teacher or pastor or neighbor sees something they think may be child abuse and they call CPS to report it. CPS arrives to check it out, and the determination they make is based solely on their investigation, which is prompted by that report from outside…
-
Has Covid19 Made it Harder For Kids in Foster Care to be Reunified With Their Families?
When a child is removed by CPS because the agency believes they may be in danger of potential abuse and neglect, their immediate safety is the main issue at hand. However, while the initial removal is devastating, in most cases the ultimate aim is reunification, which means that the agency is supposed to work towards…
-
Will Loss of Funding Result in More CPS Calls For Indigenous Families in Michigan?
American Indian Services has spent almost 50 years serving the indigenous peoples of the Metro Detroit area. Offering services that included culturally appropriate health and wellness services, counseling services, case management, diabetes prevention, after school and summer youth programs, and even a food pantry program that fed thousands of native Americans every year. But that…
-
Michigan to Shut Down Group Home Where 13-Year-Old Boy Died
Hearing about a child who died at the hands of their own parents or caregivers is tragic. Few things could be more heartbreaking. But hearing about a child who was removed from their parents care, ostensibly for abuse, and placed into the care of the state where they were poorly treated and finally killed, is…
-
Calls to CPS Have Dropped. But is it Under-reporting? Or Fewer Abuse Cases?
The CPS hotline is usually a very busy one. With calls coming in by the hundreds every week from teachers, neighbors, family members, medical professionals and police, CPS workers are constantly being notified about new possible cases of child abuse and neglect. But who do the majority of the calls come in from? This may…
-
Keeping Kids With Their Families During The Quarantine
During this very stressful period of life, while Michigan families are locked away in quarantine inside their homes under the “stay home, stay safe” order, the number of calls to CPS have risen significantly. As a result, the number of child abuse and neglect investigations has also increased, and the number of children removed from…