Michigan child-welfare providers urge legislators to close funding gaps, build COLA into contracts

Representatives of Michigan’s community-based child-welfare providers told the Michigan House Subcommittee on Human Services on May 20, 2025, that state contract rates lag the cost of delivering services and asked lawmakers to back several budget fixes, including adoption supports, independent-living investments and a cost-of-living adjustment for provider contracts.

Katie Prowt, chief strategy officer at the Michigan Federation for Children and Families, told the committee the Federation represents “more than 60 nonprofit community based organizations that contract with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to provide a full continuum of child welfare and behavioral health services across all 83 counties.” She said these local providers are “the backbone of Michigan’s families” and that “every budget decision that you all and your colleagues are making echoes through the lives of Michigan’s children.”

The Federation and agency leaders asked the subcommittee to support several line items in the governor’s executive budget and other requests. Prowt identified a…