Families First

In September of 2014, the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities announced that it was developing a child welfare finance reform plan that it would promote with the help of American Public Human Services Association and the National Organization of State Associations for Children.

By Frank Vandervort Michigan, like other states, struggles to keep abused and neglected children safe while controlling the number of children in foster care, which is costly. Our law and policy attempt to balance the protection of maltreated children (the paramount consideration), respect for parents’ rights to raise their children, and the state’s interest in keeping children safe, all with too little money.