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Michigan County CPS melting down |
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Tuesday, 30 November 2004 19:00 |
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The Detroit Free Press is reporting on the near spectacular financial
failing of the child protection and juvenile justice systems in Wayne
County, Michigan.
Michigan lawmakers are calling Wayne County officials to the Capitol this week to testify about why local nonprofit agencies--who say they are owed $3 million by CPS and are now laying off employees because of the cashflow crisis--are not getting paid. Meanwhile, a circuit-court judge, Mary Beth Kelly, is so concerned about the solvency of the County's juvenile justice system, she plans to "withdraw her approval for the system to operate as currently designed," the paper reports.
The financial and management crisis appears extensive. According to the Free Press, Wayne County has cut $27 million from its juvenile justice system. The state legislature cut funding for the County's Permanency Initiative this year, causing lower foster care rates and fewer services. Federal and state funding changes have also shifted many costs to the County level, resulting in a reduction of federal aid from $75 million in 2000 to $56 million in 2003. One private provider, Lutheran Child and Family Service of Michigan, says Wayne County owes it more than $700,000.
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