Michigan's Women, Infants & Children program, providing supplemental nutrition, breastfeeding information, and other resources for healthy mothers & babies.
Information on the Family Independence Program, State Disability Assistance, SSI, Refugee, and other cash assistance.
If you cannot afford child care, payment assistance is available.
Children's Special Health Care Services information and FAQ's.
Information on assistance with home repairs, heat and utility bills, relocation, home ownership, burials, home energy, and eligibility requirements.
Information on the Food Assistance Program, eligibility requirements, and other food resources.
Information about the health care programs available through Medicaid and how to qualify.
Our migrant program works with a number of organizations to provide services for Michigan’s migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
A federal program which helps persons admitted into the U.S. as refugees to become self-sufficient after their arrival.
Universal caseload, or task-based processing, is a different way of handling public assistance cases.
Information on the Children's Protective Services Program, child abuse reporting procedures, and help for parents in caring for their children.
Information on adoption programs, adoption resources, locating birth parents and obtaining information from adoption records.
Information on Adult Protective Services, Independent Living Services, Adult Community Placement Services, and HIV/AIDS Support Services.
Information on child support services for participants and partners.
Programs for healthy children & families, including immunization, lead poisoning prevention, prenatal smoking cessation, and many others.
Information on the Children's Foster Care program and becoming a Foster Parent.
Information about the Michigan law that requires certain information be made available to a woman who is seeking an abortion at least 24 hours prior to the abortion procedure.
Information on treatment and services for juvenile offenders, success stories, and more.
Child Welfare Medical and Behavioral Health Resources
MDHHS and partners support a continuum of prevention services. The continuum is inclusive of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention activities. Visit this page to learn more.
Information about injury and violence prevention programs in Michigan
Information on Safe Sleep for your baby, how to protect your baby's life.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services' (MDHHS) Environmental Health Bureau (EHB) uses the best available science to reduce, eliminate, or prevent harm from environmental, chemical, and physical hazards.
Resources and information to assist in assuring firearm safety for families in the state of Michigan.
The Division of Victim Services (DVS) provides a voice advocating for and responding to all victims of crime in Michigan. Learn more about DVS-funded programs and services, including Michigan’s 24/7, free, confidential, and anonymous domestic violence and sexual assault hotlines.
Medical Resources for Child Protection
Serves as liaison and provides funding to Michigan’s 45 local health departments.
Adult Behavioral Health & Developmental Disability Services
Multicultural Health
Prevention of diseases & conditions such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and many others.
Information on communicable & chronic diseases.
Home to an array of public health programs, initiatives and interventions aimed at improving the health and well-being of women, infants, families and communities.
Birth, Death, Marriage and Divorce Records
Boards and Commissions
Bridge Card Participation Information on Electronic Benefits for clients and businesses, lists of participating retailers and ATMs, and QUEST.
Provider Payments Information on the direct deposit of State of Michigan payments into a provider's bank account.
Information on How to Bid, Requests for Proposals, forms and publications, contractor rates, and manuals.
Information & resources for Community and Faith-Based partners
Information on DHS Applications and Forms grouped by category.
State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP)
Health Care Providers
Licensing information for Adult Foster Care and Homes for the Aged, Child Day Care Facilities, Child Caring Institutions, Children's Foster Care Homes, Child Placing Agencies, Juvenile Court Operated Facilities and Children's or Adult Foster Care Camps.
Michigan Statewide Systems of Care
Information on the grant awarded for the State Innovation Model Proposal
Protect MiFamily -Title IV-E Waiver
Offers resources for agencies who operate the Weatherization Assistance Program in the state of Michigan
Information on resources in your community and volunteer recruitment and training, and services provided at local DHS offices.
Information is collected to monitor the general health and well-being of Michigan citizens.
Equal Opportunity, Legal Base, Laws and Reporting Welfare Fraud information.
A variety of reports & statistics for programs and services.
Search is currently unavailable. Please try again later.
The web Browser you are currently using is unsupported, and some features of this site may not work as intended. Please update to a modern browser such as Chrome, Firefox or Edge to experience all features Michigan.gov has to offer.
April 10, 2015
For Immediate Release: April 10, 2015
LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) appeared today before Judge Nancy G. Edmunds in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to discuss the latest report under its Modified Settlement Agreement with Children’s Rights, Inc. Governor Snyder created the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services through Executive Order by combining the former departments of Community Health and Human Services.
“Protecting children is the most important work we do and I know that everyone involved has a strong desire and commitment to improve health and safety outcomes as quickly as possible for children and families in Michigan’s child welfare system,” said Nick Lyon, director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
There is always a lag with these reports so they serve as a snapshot in time and offer a retrospective rather than a prospective view of Michigan’s child welfare system. All parties acknowledged this reporting cycle differed from the previous five under the Modified Settlement Agreement that took effect in 2011, since it covers the period that includes Michigan’s launch of the Michigan Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (MiSACWIS), a federally-mandated data system that was a requirement under the federal oversight of Michigan’s child welfare system.
While Michigan has implemented its system the most seamlessly of any state to date, there have been challenges. According to Steve Yager, who leads Michigan’s child welfare programs, it has been a very big undertaking and the state’s data team is working fast and furiously to fix identified problems as quickly as possible as well as implement enhancements.
“We know it has been particularly frustrating for staff, who are not only learning a new system that requires more input but are also dealing with temporary lags and delays while bugs are being fixed and the system enhanced,” said Yager. “We are confident that we have continued to improve safety outcomes for children and look forward to a vastly improved data system that can demonstrate this progress beyond a doubt.”
The court-appointed federal monitors have acknowledged that Michigan’s launch of MiSACWIS as its data reporting system is going to be a valuable asset in the long run and address some of the reporting challenges Michigan has had historically.
“I applaud the state for everything you are doing,” said Edmunds. She noted that the department has made phenomenal progress and said that all parties had the shared goal of protecting children. She also noted the data collection challenges posed by MiSACWIS and spoke of her expectation that discussions between the parties will lead to reorganizing the agreement to end supervision in some areas once the data supports that and creating a better road map forward.
Michigan’s child welfare system has been under federal oversight since 2008. This is the sixth monitoring report to be filed since the modified agreement was signed in 2011. As noted, it does not reflect the most recent improvements to Michigan’s child welfare system.
Attorneys representing MDHHS highlighted the department’s continued efforts to improve safety for all children in the system and underscored recent improvements to the data system noting that the next reporting cycle would include more data proofs of compliance.
Lyon said the department is looking forward to the opportunity to meet with the plaintiffs in May to see what modifications could be made to the Modified Settlement Agreement.
“We appreciate the opportunity to sit down next month and demonstrate areas where Michigan has shown sustained compliance and safety improvements that can be removed from the list of items currently monitored,” said Lyon.
A meeting that has been scheduled in May with the plaintiffs will be facilitated by the federally appointed monitors. The goal of the meeting is to work together to identify the areas where the improvement has reached a level where they may no longer require federal oversight. In essence the department will work with the plaintiffs on a modification to the Modified Settlement Agreement in which areas, where we have demonstrated compliance over a long period of time, are removed from the list of items being monitored and tracked.
As the result of a lawsuit filed by New York-based Children’s Rights, Michigan’s child welfare system came under federal oversight in 2008. In early 2011, Michigan renegotiated the original consent decree to focus more on outcomes and less on bureaucracy and process. The resulting modified settlement agreement took effect on July 18, 2011.
To view the full report, along with earlier reports and the original modified settlement agreement, please visit: www.michigan.gov/ChildWelfareAgreement.