Child & Family Services of Northeast Michigan

Foster Care

The Child Welfare Program of Child and Family Services of Northeast Michigan provides the specialized service of foster care for children and adolescents. The foster care program is designed for children who have been removed from their home due to abusive/neglectful circumstances and/or delinquency.

The children are placed in either a regular or intensive foster care setting, depending on their emotional, behavioral or physical needs, as well as the level of foster family and casework intervention necessary to the childs individual treatment plan. Children in this program usually demonstrate emotional and behavioral problems that require extra support and intervention. This program provides a wide range of services to these children and their biological families, as well as to the foster families who care for the children. Referrals to the foster care program usually originate with the local Family Independence Agencies and Juvenile Courts in our service area.

Child and Family Services of Northeast Michigan is licensed by the State of Michigan to provide these foster care services to children, as well as license the foster homes in which the children are placed.

We provide these services on a contractual basis with the State of Michigan and are subsidized through funding from the state. If no appropriate openings are available at the time the child is referred, then the child can be placed on a waiting list, or can be referred to another agency.

In most cases, placement is needed immediately, so if we are unable to match the child to a family, the referring worker will contact other programs in order to hopefully secure a placement. Sometimes, a referral may not be appropriate for our program (please refer to criteria grid for further clarification), and we will assist the referring worker in identifying other appropriate options that would best meet the needs of the child and his/her family.

The Child Welfare Program strives to find the most appropriate foster home match for each child referred. The foster family provides the foster child with daily care, affection, and security while working closely with the agency caseworker and the other members of the childs treatment team. The goal in the majority of cases is the childs reunification with their biological family. In those instances where reunification is not possible, we offer an adoption program that matches eligible children to specially trained adoptive families.

Intake Procedures... Most referrals to the foster care program originate with the local FIA, juvenile courts or Community Mental Health. A caseworker for a child must first make a phone referral to the Child Welfare Program Director (or his/her designee), who then completes a referral form.

Most referrals are of such an emergency nature, that we must respond as quickly as possible. In most cases, a placement is needed immediately, and the intake worker must complete a comprehensive referral over the phone in order to determine the current needs of the child. With this information, the intake worker tries to identify the most appropriate family that is felt to best be able to meet the childs needs.

In some cases, where there is a luxury of time before foster care placement is necessary, a referral packet is requested of and received from the referring agency, and the childs case is presented at a staff meeting in order to have staff input in regard to the most appropriate family match for the child.

Even in the case of an emergency referral, a referral information request is sent out to the referring worker for background information on the child and his/her family. This information assists in developing the most appropriate treatment plan for the child and family.

An Intake Questionnaire is also sent out to the referring worker so that current information can be obtained in regard to the child and family (please refer to the attached forms).

Child and Family Services of Northeast Michigan provides foster family care to children between the ages of 1-18 (exceptions to age 18 are when children "age out", but are still in school and are under the court or State of Michigans care and jurisdiction). Although the agency is open from 9:00am to 5:00pm, it is recognized that the need for services to our children and families does not stop at 5 oclock. Because of this, workers are allowed a flexible schedule that better allows them to meet the varying schedules of the children, foster family and biological family.

A worker is also available to the children and foster families on a 24-hour basis through the use of an 800 number and pager.

Direct Program # (989) 356-4048 Toll free # (800) 779-0396 Main Agency # (989) 356-4567