Category: Child Welfare System
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Does Being in Foster Care Mess up a Kids’ Future? (Pt. 2)
Welcome back and thanks for joining us again for this discussion on the long-term effects of foster care on a child’s life. In the previous article in this two-part series, we looked at how hard being in foster care is on kids, and why they often struggle emotionally later in life. However, losing everything meaningful…
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Does Being in Foster Care Mess up a Kids’ Future? (Pt. 1)
For many kids, foster care isn’t optional. With parents in prison, or wrestling with major substance abuse issues that keep them from being able to parent children properly. In these cases, there is nothing to do but put a child in foster care and hope for the best outcome. But for many Michigan children, foster…
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Michigan’s Child Welfare System is STILL in Need of Major Overhaul!
Ten years ago Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services settled a federal lawsuit, and promised to overhaul their system. More staff, more effective trainings, greater resources. It was going to be better. The system put in place to protect Michigan’s kids was going to improve. And here we are, a decade later, and the…
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Are CPS Services Enough For Parents With Drug Abuse Problems?
People who struggle with substance abuse problems need a lot of help. Not some help, or occasional help. A LOT of help. Why? Because addiction takes over. It infiltrates every aspect of your life, and directs your thought patterns. It becomes a routine part of your daily activities, and affects how you think and feel…
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Michigan’s Proposed Mandatory Reporter Legislation Could Hurt Children!
Many things will change in the wake of the Larry Nassar case. Some of them are great changes – women and girls will be more likely to speak up when they’ve been assaulted, knowing that they’ll be believed. MSU will hopefully do a better job of handling future allegations of sexual assault. But not everything…
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Dealing With CPS? Be Careful Where You Get Your Advice!
If you were to ask Forrest Gump, he’d probably tell you the internet is like a box of chocolates. Sometimes you get lucky and find the caramel ones. And sometimes you strike out and get the nougat one instead. (Eugh!) But how do you tell the difference before taking that first bite? How do make…
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Do Fewer Spankings and Friendlier Neighbors Mean Less CPS?
A new study published in the journal Child Abuse & Neglect shows that there’s a direct correlation between how often a child is spanked, the friendliness of their neighborhood, and how often CPS gets involved. Sounds strange to you? There’s actually a really sound reason behind it all. Researchers at the University of Michigan and…
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What You Should (And Shouldn’t) do if CPS is Investigating You! (Part 5)
Thanks for sticking with us for this five part series – we know it’s a lot of information, but for families facing a CPS investigation, it can be invaluable! So if you’ve been with us from the beginning, let’s dive in for the last installment on this subject. If you’ve only just stumbled on these…
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What You Should (And Shouldn’t) do if CPS is Investigating You! (Part 2)
Welcome back, we’re glad you’re taking the time to read this and prepare yourself, should CPS ever end up on your doorstep. As we pointed out in the previous article, many innocent families get investigated by CPS. And when CPS shows up at your house, they’re not there to determine if you’re guilty of abuse…
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What You Should (And Shouldn’t) do if CPS is Investigating You! (Part 1)
If you’ve had any dealings with CPS, then you know they take their work very seriously (as they should!) But what about when they’re totally incorrect? What about the times when they investigate innocent parents and make false allegations against families who haven’t done anything wrong. Sounds crazy? And yet it happens a lot in…