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Highfields CEO urges state to preserve family‑preservation services, warns of funding threats
Summary
Brian Filson, CEO of Highfields, told the House Families and Veterans Committee that family‑preservation and in‑home services reduce foster placements, but the provider network faces funding and capacity threats including potential federal and Medicaid changes.
Brian Filson, CEO of Highfields, told the Michigan House Families and Veterans Committee that preserving family‑preservation services and the provider network is essential to keeping children safely at home and avoiding more costly out‑of‑home placements.
Filson, who leads Highfields and said he will begin his 20th year there after two decades in juvenile justice, described the agency’s three primary divisions — residential, educational and community services — and urged continued state support for provider reimbursement and cost‑of‑living increases.
Filson said Highfields now serves 10 counties and that its work focuses on stabilizing families, strengthening parenting skills and empowering households so children can remain in their homes. “We stabilize, we strengthen, and then we go on to empower them,” Filson said. He added that the residential program is now the smallest of the agency’s offerings and that most work occurs in community services and education programs.
Why it matters: Filson told lawmakers that preventive, in‑home…
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