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) Division of Environmental Health (DEH) 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 is collected to monitor the general health and well-being of Michigan citizens.
Information on resources in your community and volunteer recruitment and training, and services provided at local DHS offices.
Equal Opportunity, Legal Base, Laws and Reporting Welfare Fraud information.
A variety of reports & statistics for programs and services.
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The American Public Health Association’s widely used definition of a community health worker (CHW) is “a frontline public health worker who is a trusted member of and/or has an unusually close understanding of the community served. This trusting relationship enables the CHW to serve as a liaison/link/intermediary between health/social services and the community to facilitate access to services and improve the quality and cultural competence of service delivery. A CHW also builds individual and community capacity by increasing health knowledge and self-sufficiency through a range of activities such as outreach, community education, informal counseling, social support and advocacy.”
Source: Michigan Community Health Worker Alliance (MiCHWA): About CHWs (michwa.org)
Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services On the Front Lines of Health Equity: Community Health Workers (cms.gov)
How is MDHHS Supporting CHW Efforts Statewide?
The MDHHS SDOH Strategy identifies CHWs as a strategic imperative to improve health outcomes and advance health equity. Extensive efforts are ongoing to better support the CHW workforce and ensure more Michigan residents are able to benefit from CHW services.
The CHW Subcommittee has put forth a set of 24 recommendations, with a number of supporting sub-recommendations, with strong consensus on a path forward for implementation:
The MDHHS Policy and Planning SDOH team is committed to supporting implementation of these recommendations by taking the following steps:
Priority: Create a supportive environment for the CHW workforce to thrive and make a significant impact on improving health equity and enhancing community well-being.
To support recommendations under the ‘workforce support’ priority, the MDHHS Policy and Planning Office will establish a CHW Advisory Council, comprised primarily (>75%) of current or former CHWs, to advise on the development of policies impacting the CHW workforce. The CHW Advisory Council will advise on decisions related to CHW funding, integration of CHWs into state-led programs, and the potential development of formal CHW certification policies. Additionally, the Policy and Planning Office is allocating funding to support stipends/compensation for CHW Advisory Council members, acknowledging the value of their contributions.
Priority: Better align CHW efforts by consistently sharing best practices and coordinating approaches to mitigation of barriers.
To support recommendations under the ‘alignment’ priority, the MDHHS Policy and Planning SDOH team developed a framework and will support pilot projects for Community Health Worker Integration to Improve Equity (CITIE). CITIE is an innovative, collaborative initiative that aims to address health disparities by training and integrating CHWs in communities that have been disproportionately burdened by health inequities.
Priority: Identify meaningful measures of CHW work to demonstrate value and illustrate impacts.
To support recommendations under the ‘measurement’ priority, the MDHHS Policy and Planning SDOH team will promote the adoption of common process and outcome indicators for CHW practice developed by the CHW Center for Research and Evaluation (CHW-CRE).
Priority: Build a community engagement strategy to raise awareness of the importance and impacts of CHW work.
To support recommendations under the ‘engagement’ priority, the MDHHS Policy and Planning SDOH team convened a CHW Community Feedback Forum (CHW-CFF) in August 2023. The CHW-CFF brings together community members, as well as state and local community partners to provide input on policy and program recommendations to support the CHW workforce in Michigan. It will provide relevant and diverse perspectives informing recommendations to support and sustain the CHW workforce in Michigan, while promoting awareness of CHWs and their integral role in improving health and equity.
The next CHW-CFF meeting is scheduled for November 12, 2024 from 10:00-11:30 AM. If you would like to attend, please register below:
CHW Community Feedback Forum Meeting #4 Registration
Priority: Identify and prioritize existing and potential mechanisms through Medicaid, other MDHHS programs, and other approaches to assure sustainable financing of CHW programs.
To support recommendations under the ‘sustainable financing’ priority, funding opportunities through partnerships and grants will be pursued to support the expansion of the CHW workforce and CHW trainer capacity.
Michigan Medicaid CHW Policy
Effective on January 1, 2024, Michigan Medicaid has begun reimbursing for Community Health Worker (CHW) services provided to Medicaid beneficiaries. To learn more about the policy, please visit the Michigan Medicaid CHW Policy website.
Priority: Create recommendations to support standards for CHW core competency-based training and mechanisms for certifying that training programs meet them.
To support recommendations under the ‘training’ priority, the CHW Advisory Council will advise on the development of a CHW certification policy, including the following considerations: CHW definition, core competencies, coordinating bodies, training, experience, applications for CHWs and training providers, renewal, reciprocity, whether certification should be voluntary or mandatory*, and other certification options. Barriers and potential negative outcomes to certification will be considered and solutions to address them will be prioritized.
*A majority of the CHW Subcommittee is supportive of CHW certification being voluntary, but there was no consensus; some members recommended mandatory certification.
For more information on MDHHS efforts to support CHW efforts within the SDOH Strategy, subscribe to the SDOH monthly newsletter.