Priorities for New Federal Funding

To expand and strengthen the role of state government in leading local efforts to preserve families and promote independence, we will expand family preservation services. These services help families in crisis and avoid long-term dependence on government help and expand family support services which provide earlier intervention to help families before they reach a crisis stage.

We will assemble an advisory group to help plan the use of the new federal funds. This group will include other state departments, private providers, first-line workers, courts, legislators, law enforcement advocates and community leaders. We will conduct four or five town meetings across the state to gather local input. We will also support the current department effort to establish a series of pilot programs to test new models of early intervention.

Shared Parenting

Current state policy denies AFDC (even if income eligible) to parents with joint custody. To encourage this greater parental involvement with children, we will allow AFDC payments in joint custody situations.

We propose that when parents do not reside together but share "joint custody," for eligibility purposes, the parent who applies for the child(ren) has physical custody, and if the other parent does not object, will be considered the specified relative grantee.

The other parent will be responsible to cooperate with the department and the Friend of the Court in providing child support. This change will acknowledge changes that have occurred as a result of both parents being actively involved in the care and custody of their children in a "new" family configuration.

Mandate Pre-admission Screening

Michigan is currently operating four pilots to screen individuals who are ready for nursing homes and provide case management of services under a care plan to keep people in their own homes. The current waiver is for three years, ending March 1, 1995. By that time, we will be serving 2,000 clients in 14 counties.

We will seek a five-year renewal of the waiver, starting in March 1995, with a phased expansion to be statewide by the year 2000. The planning process will begin in April 1994 to accommodate the financial and administrative development required.