Jackson County nonprofit outlines rising foster caseload, school-based mental-health services and strain on guardianship program

Dr. Bob Powell, CEO of Family Service and Children's Aid in Jackson County, told the Michigan House Families and Veterans Committee that his agency is seeing higher demand across foster care, behavioral health and guardianship services and urged lawmakers to support increased funding for foster-care rates and guardianship services.

"We don't turn anybody away for any reason, as long as they're eligible for whatever services we offer," Dr. Powell said, describing the agency's mix of DHHS contracts, grants, United Way funding and donations. He said foster care has "super[ly] busy" caseloads: at the time of his testimony his agency had 185 youth in care in Jackson County and had received 347 protective-services referrals in one month, 164 of which were investigated.

Powell told the committee that many children come into care because of parental addiction and described recent cases that, in his words, showed severe neglect and, in other cases, trafficking. He said private nonprofit agencies handle adoption in Michigan and that recruiting foster and adoptive parents remains an ongoing need.

Powell described the agency's behavioral-health services, which last year served about 700 people and include substance-use-disorder treatment and trauma-informed mental health care. He said the agency's newest program places licensed therapists in schools and serves about 250 students; Powell said the on-site model reduces no-shows because students can be treated where they already are.

"Trauma, trauma, trauma," Powell said, stressing that unresolved trauma underlies many of the behavioral problems he treats. "I believe that the drugs are not the problem. They're a symptom of the problem. Until you get to the problem, like unresolved trauma, they're always gonna struggle with the drug use as well."

Powell also described a juvenile diversion program he founded nearly 30 years ago. He said it now serves about 200 youth a year in 16 Jackson County schools, including groups and one-on-one sessions for issues such as chronic truancy and nicotine/vaping. He said changes in juvenile regulations requiring services for youth placed on probation have lengthened program participation from a 90-day window to as long as a year, increasing referrals.

On adult services, Powell described the agency's guardian program for adults legally determined to be incompetent and a separate "guardian wraparound" prevention program that works with at-risk vulnerable adults to avoid formal guardianship where possible. Powell said the agency currently provides guardianship services to about 250 people and that Michigan Guardian Association survey results show gaps statewide: 26 counties lack guardian services comparable to his, and 25 counties cannot accept indigent cases.

"Currently, we can bill $83 a month," Powell said of the statutory or contract rate his agency can collect for guardianship work. He said in many cases the agency does not collect that fee if benefits (for example, SSI) cover a ward's costs, and that fundraising helps cover uncompensated work. Powell told the committee he believes the guardianship field needs more systematic oversight and funding.

Powell closed by urging committee members to consider prevention programs, parent education, early-childhood services and trauma training. He noted the agency's ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) training program has offered more than 300 trainings and reached more than 12,000 people, and encouraged lawmakers to participate.

Committee members asked about program details, outcomes and oversight, including how the on-site school model engages teachers and principals, definitions of "success" for substance-prevention work, and safeguards and monitoring for guardian providers. Powell said school partnerships required training and relationship-building and credited initiatives such as "Handle With Care," in which police notify schools when children experienced an incident so teachers can respond with additional support. He said his substance-prevention outcome data is largely self-reported and that his juvenile diversion program tracks attendance and recidivism measures.

The committee did not take formal action on the presentation; Powell's testimony was received for the record and discussed during questions from committee members.

Ending: Powell requested lawmakers consider two near-term priorities: increases in foster-care reimbursement rates and higher fees or additional funding for guardianship services.