Rep. Bronna Kahle reveals report to improve state's adoption and foster care

LANSING — State legislators are working to implement recommendations in a report on adoption and foster care.

State Rep. Bronna Kahle, R-Adrian, recently unveiled the report compiled by the bipartisan House Adoption and Foster Care Task Force.

The report details findings from meetings with stakeholders, foster families, experts and the state department of health and human services, according to a news release from Kahle's office.

The task force’s mission was to listen to people from the entire continuum of the state’s child welfare system, partner with knowledgeable professionals to learn how and why the system is falling short, and find effective solutions to ensure every child has champions and forever homes by developing better, more effective systems to ensure their voices are heard.

Kahle was appointed to the task force in February.

“This project was centered around helping connect children with loving families and making it easier for parents to adopt and foster kids in need of safe places to call home,” Kahle said in an email. “Every child deserves to grow up with love, warmth and support. I’m confident in the many reforms outlined in our report because they were uniquely formulated by listening and working together with experts in the field, the DHHS, and foster and adoptive parents. The changes to the system that will result from this report will make a positive impact on children here in Lenawee County and all across Michigan who are waiting for families to love and care for them.”

Many of the task force recommendations have already been implemented in the state budget, which began on Oct. 1. They include:

• Helping local foster care closets achieve their mission of clothing foster youth and supporting families in need.
• Increasing funding for the Family Incentive Grant, a funding pool to support foster parents who need to make home improvements.
• Establishing a county pilot program structured around high-quality legal representation for child protective proceedings.
• Vouchers for child protective services caseworkers to use when fulfilling immediate needs, such as food or clothing, for children who have been abused, neglected or trafficked.
• Expanding court-appointed special advocates services statewide.
• Funding to complete an actuarial study on the creation of a specialty foster care health plan in Michigan.
• A historic rate increase of $9 per day for private agency foster care.

Legislation will be introduced in the coming weeks to fulfill more of the recommendations outlined in the task force report. The report can be viewed on the Michigan House Republicans' website.