Michigan Foster Care System Awareness

11/07/2022

More families join lawsuit accusing DCF of bypassing biological family members for custody.

Eighteen more families have joined a lawsuit against the Florida Department of Children and Families that alleges the system bypassed biological family members in custody disputes.

07/14/2022

Wellspring Lutheran Services, Ga***rd MI continues to promote adoption through foster care. You cannot support reunification, while encouraging that the same children be adopted.

Wellspring is filtering kids through their foster care system by sabotaging reunifications/placement with families, so they can then adopt those children out. In turn generating more money for themselves.

03/13/2022

They all knew. A whole system of people knew and wouldn't do anything.
Adoption can be a beautiful thing, but children should not be stolen for people who aren't able to biologically have their own. She has a family that loves her, but she will now never know.

02/15/2022

The Government Spends 10 Times More on Foster Care and Adoption Than Reuniting Families

Benefits meant to help low-income families are paying for their separation.

01/25/2022

On Thursday, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) outlined progress that has improved the well-being of youth involved in Michigan’s child welfare system. The MDHHS appeared virtually in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan for the latest report from fed...

01/13/2022

has plans for your children for sure!

Happy New Year!

12/29/2021

Report of the Office of Children's Ombudsman regarding Wellspring Lutheran Services not complying with state laws and MDHHS policies. They are allowed to intentionally violate laws and adopt children to their clients, without consequences.

12/07/2021

I want to share my experience with Wellspring Lutheran Services and the current state of the foster care system.

I've contacted everyone I can possibly think of to bring awareness to what's happening, but everyone turns a blind eye because it doesn't personally affect them or the agencies have them in their back pocket.

A brief back story is that my niece was removed from her mother after birth. My parents (her grandparents) requested relative placement and due to the proven violations of the agencies, were unable to get preferred placement. My niece is now a year and a half old and will be adopted by her foster parents, even though she has family that's been fighting for her. If not for the actions, rather lack of actions, by the agencies, she would be with her family.

Please imagine if it was your family that was being adopted because of an agencies purposeful neglect. It's very heartbreaking.

Since I've been speaking out about it, I see that it's not uncommon and the agencies are seen as an adoption agency - removing children just to give them to foster parents that can't have children - and making no efforts to keep them with family, as law provides.

The Office of Children's Ombudsman did a very lengthy investigation and determined that Wellspring Lutheran Services did not comply with law/policy regarding relative placement of a child, which resulted in the child not being placed with family.

The OCO noted that there is growing evidence that child placing agencies often slow or otherwise inhibit relative placement.

While I'm unsure what your experience is with child welfare and the foster care system, there are laws and policies in place which state relatives are to be a priority.

We are just one of so many families that children are being taken away from to adopt out to foster care parents.

We need to bring awareness that violating the laws by DHHS/foster agencies is not okay. This is an important issue to many families everywhere and it continues to break down any faith we once had for the child welfare system. The "system" shouldn't be a place that people fear.

This could happen to any of us or those we love. We have to stand up.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. -MLK



Wellspring Lutheran Services Michigan Department of Health and Human Services