NEWS RELEASE
MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
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Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Director Elizabeth Hertel recently joined MDHHS staff and clients for a roundtable discussion on the department’s ongoing efforts to improve the safety and well-being of Michigan children through its Family Impact Teams (FIT).
Launched in August 2023 as part of the Keep Kids Safe Action Agenda, FIT is an innovative program that keeps children at risk of neglect safely in their homes by delivering services and assistance to families such as food and housing assistance, Medicaid programs and gas cards.
“I’m proud of the work MDHHS is doing to ensure families are connected to department programs that can help meet their basic needs,” said Elizabeth Hertel, director of MDHHS. “The right economic supports increase the potential for children to remain at home with their parents instead of being placed in foster care. And for those in foster care, providing these economic supports can result in a safer, more stable home environment as we work to reunify children with their parents.”
The FIT approach strengthens collaboration between MDHHS’s Economic Stability Administration – which provides public benefits such as food assistance and Medicaid – and its Children’s Services Administration, which protects children and provides services to their families.
Through FIT, MDHHS family resource specialists engage with families face-to-face, determine their eligibility for assistance programs offered by MDHHS, and refer them to other local agencies that can provide them with resources to meet the families’ needs.
The FIT project has delivered services to more than 4,100 families in 23 counties since its launch in August 2023. In Macomb County, over 215 families have been served through FIT.
The first phase of the project began in August 2023 in Allegan, Barry, Chippewa, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Luce, Mackinac, Oakland, Sanilac, St. Clair and Wayne counties. The second phase of the project began in May 2024 in Berrien, Clare, Delta, Dickinson, Isabella, Macomb, Menominee, Ogemaw, Ottawa, Roscommon and Saginaw counties.
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