This article originally appeared in The Detroit News November 10, 2024.

Children are our hope for a bright, beautiful future. Tragically, far too many see their future dimmed by the trauma of abuse and neglect. When a child’s home becomes unsafe, the state must step in as a temporary guardian while helping the child find a permanent, safe, stable home. Sometimes, finding a suitable new family means crossing state lines.

However, according to a recent audit, Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services is failing in this duty. A third of children placed out of state are not receiving the legally required check-ins, the state has been slow in ensuring children’s new homes are safe and adequate and are neglecting to obtain timely reports on their well-being.

This negligence is inexcusable. These children, already traumatized by their circumstances, are being let down by the very system that is meant to protect them. While Michigan has made efforts to support children in foster care, its policies are insufficient. The state must safeguard vulnerable children by making key reforms that will strengthen their legal representation, ensure family stability and preserve their financial resources.

One of the most important changes Michigan can make to ensure children find a forever home is giving them an advocate who can represent their rights and wishes in court.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark In Re Gault decision guaranteed the right to counsel for children in delinquency proceedings. The court ruled that legal representation was crucial to protect children’s life and liberty interests. While youth in foster care are typically not involved in delinquency proceedings, they similarly face significant threats to their rights and liberties. The right to counsel should be extended to abused and neglected children as well.

Currently, Michigan law provides children in foster care with an attorney to represent what the lawyer believes to be in the child's best interest. Fortunately, these lawyers have additional ethical and legal obligations to the child. Unfortunately, even with these additional duties, there is no guarantee that the child’s expressed wishes are directly represented.

Subtle but significant changes to Michigan’s system can ensure children’s rights are known and enforceable and would help foster children find permanency and stability more quickly.

First, the state should recognize children’s right to appointed, traditional legal counsel, representing their expressed interests, not just what others believe is best for them. This shift would grant children greater autonomy and respect, ensuring their voices are heard in decisions that directly impact their lives.

Second, the state needs to ensure the quality of legal counsel. To do this, Michigan’s “Office of the Child Advocate” should be empowered to maintain oversight, increase accountability and improve the quality of legal representation. This is similar to the way programs operate in Colorado and New Mexico. Missouri lawmakers are considering doing the same.

Michigan’s foster care standards also need more robust enforcement. The quality assurances in place lack clarity and measurability. Stronger accountability is essential to ensure children receive high-quality care and that the system is held responsible when these standards aren’t met. Reforms backed by the Center for the Rights of Abused Children passed in places like Arizona and Colorado have enacted a very extensive and enforceable “Bill of Rights.”

Additionally, the state should make it easier to find safe and stable relatives for children in the foster care system. While Michigan law prioritizes relative placements, delays in conducting thorough searches for relatives result in unnecessary instability for the children.

The Center for the Rights of Abused Children has proposed reforms that would strengthen oversight of relative searches, requiring timely reporting to juvenile courts. By creating a clear paper trail, the state can ensure agencies are diligently searching for relatives and responding to placement opportunities quickly. Furthermore, the law should elevate the role of foster parents who have cared for a child for several months. Recognizing the attachment young children develop as well as the right of a child to a family and stability, the state should give foster parents equal consideration with relatives when determining permanent placements.

While Michigan has made progress in its foster care system, much more needs to be done. These reforms would improve the foster care system and offer Michigan’s most vulnerable children the chance for a safer and more hopeful future.

Children in foster care deserve stability, a voice in their future, and accountability from the systems designed to protect them. Michigan has the opportunity and the obligation to provide them with that.

Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy are properly cited.