When a child has no competent parents, the state steps in as guardian. This duty is serious, and Michigan’s foster care system faces real challenges. Join us as we discuss how to strengthen Michigan’s foster care system and better protect vulnerable children. Recent audits have revealed troubling gaps including weak oversight and failure to check ins on some out-of-state placements. Children who have already experienced trauma deserve better than bureaucratic neglect.
This panel will explore practical reforms: ensuring children have meaningful legal representation that reflects their expressed wishes; improving accountability with clearer, enforceable standards; and strengthening efforts to find safe, stable relative placements more quickly. What family preservation strategies might reduce the need for removal in the first place? What programs have been successful – and unsuccessful – in Michigan and around the country?
Foster care will always be necessary in some cases. The question is whether Michigan’s system is structured to deliver stability, transparency and real accountability. Find out how we can improve outcomes and ensure a safer, more stable future for Michigan’s most vulnerable children.
Wednesday, June 10, 2026
Lunch: 11:30am - 12:00pm
Program: 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Lunch is Included
The Louie Building (6th floor)
123 W. Allegan St.
Lansing, MI, 48933
Call our Events office at
Event is free, but RSVP is necessary by June 4.
Register online
Maura Corrigan is a former chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court and also served as director of the Michigan Department of Human Services. A graduate of Marygrove College and the University of Detroit Law School, she built a distinguished legal career as a prosecutor, assistant U.S. attorney, law firm partner, and judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals. Corrigan is also known for her work on foster care and adoption issues and for her advocacy of textualist judicial interpretation.
Rep. Kathy Schmaltz is a Michigan House member representing the 46th district in south-central Michigan. She chairs the House Families and Veterans Committee. Kathy worked in radio before joining NBC WILX-TV 10 in Lansing as a writer, associate news director of community relations, and news anchor for the 6 and 11 p.m. broadcasts. She also hosted “In Focus,” a show discussing public policy with lawmakers and others. Kathy has lived in the Jackson area for more than 30 years. A big Detroit Tigers fan, she is an original member of the Mayo Smith Society, made up of Tigers fans around the country.
Tim Keller is the senior vice president and legal director for the Center for the Rights of Abused Children and a father of four boys. Tim and his wife opened their home to children who needed safety and stability. What he saw in courtrooms changed him: children without voices, rights promised but not protected. He now devotes his career to making sure every child is protected, represented, and given the chance to grow up safe and loved. A seasoned constitutional litigator, Tim is building a body of precedent to defend children’s rights to safety, family, and counsel.
