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.
Information, sources of data and resources to support Firearm Injury Prevention efforts across the state of Michigan.
Medical Resources for Child Protection
Serves as liaison and provides funding to Michigan’s 45 local health departments.
Adult Behavioral Health & Developmental Disability Services
Information and resources for development of Plans of Safe Care.
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.
Blood spots dating back to January of 1990 are currently in storage. Any blood spots received by the state lab on infants born before January of 1990 have been destroyed. According to MDHHS policy, dried blood spots can be stored for up to 100 years, with current MDHHS practice indicating that blood spots will be destroyed after 35 years. Therefore, blood spot destruction recurs annually for specimens that reach the end of their 35-year retention period.
Good lab practice requires that blood spots be kept for a length of time after newborn screening is done. The state lab has always stored blood spots after newborn screening, but the length of time has changed over the years. In the 1970s, blood spots were stored for 7 years and then destroyed. In the 1980s, the State of Michigan stored blood spots until a child reached 21.5 years. In 1999, a Governor’s task force called the Michigan Commission on Genetic Privacy and Progress recommended storing leftover blood spots indefinitely because of their value for future research. State law allows the Department of Health and Human Services to set the period for storage. Current MDHHS policy indicates that dried blood spots can be stored for up to 100 years, with our current practice being 35-year storage. Here are some important reasons to store blood spots:
Blood spots may be used for the following reasons:
Four different advisory boards help guide BioTrust policies and operations. Board members represent the major state universities, research institutions, disease and advocacy organizations, community groups and the public. Below is a visual that shows the governance structure of the BioTrust.
The BioTrust is a program run by the Department of Health and Human Services to oversee Michigan’s stored blood spots and their use in health research. The BioTrust encompasses outreach and community engagement, policy development as well as coordination and approval of research requesting blood spots.
The MNB is the contracted storage repository for Michigan’s residual newborn screening blood spot samples. The MNB is responsible for securely storing and optimally preserving blood spots and only releases them when directed by MDHHS. They also work to promote the use of these samples in health research.
While all blood spots may be used for quality improvement and test development by the newborn screening lab, MDHHS is committed to ensuring that families have opportunities to make decisions about the use of these left over blood spots in research studies. The consent process differs depending on your or your child’s date of birth. For information about your options, please refer to the birth date sections below that applies to you or your child:
MDHHS and MNB take many steps to securely store blood spots and protect your privacy. There are many levels of security at the MNB, where blood spots are stored. Blood spots are stored using a code and not a person’s name. Details that could pinpoint a child or family are removed before blood spots are sent to MNB for storage. Only authorized employees are permitted to access the dried blood spots. To learn more about how your privacy is protected in the BioTrust research process, read the online document "How does the BioTrust protect privacy?" (michigan.gov)
When blood spots are used in medical and public health research projects, researchers are only provided dried blood spots in a de-identified form. This means researchers don’t know whose blood spots they are using. The only exception is if you specifically grant permission to a researcher to use your dried blood spots in an identified form.
The dried blood spots are also protected under the law. The BioTrust has been designated a Medical Research Project (MRP), which adds privacy protections. As outlined in the MRP, MDHHS is only permitted to use dried blood spots for quality improvement and test development of NBS disorders, parent- or guardian-directed medical research, crime victim identification, and de-identified medical research. MDHHS has been granted the highest level of federal protection, a Certificate of Confidentiality from the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
The Newborn Screening Follow-Up Program serves to facilitate the release of blood spots for parent or personal use. However, the Newborn Screening Follow-Up Program is not responsible for the actual testing of the released blood spot, nor does it provide clinical guidance on the use of the blood spot. In the past, families have used blood spots to diagnose a child’s untimely death, for further genetic testing, or for research projects outside of the BioTrust that they are participating in.
To access blood spots for further personal use, a Requesting Return of Residual Dried Blood Spots for Personal Use (MDHHS-6122) form must be completed and returned to the Newborn Screening Program at the MDHHS. This request can be made by a parent or legal guardian for a child or directly by an individual 18 years or older. The newborn screening program requires verification that you are the legal representative entitled to make the request. You must submit your State ID or driver’s license as well as a copy of your or your child’s birth certificate with your request.