DHS' Community Supportive Services provides family preservation and family support programs, the Child Safety and Permanency Planning process, and several child welfare collaborative efforts.
The annual budget is approximately $70 million, most of which is for contracted services, training and collaborative initiatives.
The programs or processes for which Community Supportive Services has lead responsibility within DHS are:
State/Local Collaboration
As part of Michigan's systems reform effort, Community Supportive Services participates in a state interagency committee which has as its mission the fostering of collaborative partnerships at the local and state level, and the removal of barriers to effective service delivery for children and families. Members of this group, appointed by the department directors, included representatives from the governor's office and all the major state departments, including Management and Budget, Transportation, Community Health, DHS, Education, Labor and Economic Growth, Housing Authority and Children's Trust Fund.
Other collaborative initiatives currently being led by Community Supportive Services include: the Child Well-Being Program, a home visiting program for families whose cases have been closed to cash assistance due to noncompliance with work requirements; Partnerships for Safety, a strategy to re-train CPS workers and supervisors in strength-based, solution-focused interview skills to reduce referrals to CPS; a partnership with Michigan's Indian tribes and the Office of Native American Affairs to train child welfare staff on the Indian Child Welfare Law, and Family Group Decision Making which will enhance kinship placements and reduce other foster care placements.
Community Supportive Services will be involved in efforts to use redirected state foster care dollars to reduce residential and institutional care for abused and neglected children by enhancing and expanding the WrapAround process.
All contracts and programs in Community Supportive Services have expected and measurable program outcomes.