LANSING - The first comprehensive estimate of migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families working in Michigan conducted in 15 years was released today by the Data Task Force of the Michigan Interagency Migrant Service Committee.

The Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Enumeration Profiles Study provides updated estimates of the number of migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the state and each of its counties, including the number of people under age twenty and those non-farmworkers present in the same households as migrant and seasonal farmworkers.

"This study is a critical step toward properly supporting the human side of the agricultural industry," said Linda V. Parker, Director of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights. "By acquiring a proper measurement of this community, we are better able to match resources with the people who need them most."

The report, completed by Alice Larson, Ph.D., of Larson Assistance Services, is intended to provide a first step toward research to identify further characteristics of this vital segment of Michigan's workforce. Proper counts and understanding of a community's demographics is used by agencies charged with properly serving the various communities.

"This study confirms that services for workers and their families are needed, particularly for their children," said Martha Gonzalez-Cortes, director of the Office of Migrant Affairs for the Department of Human Services. "We're equipped with real numbers to help Michigan qualify for federal funding and for grants to provide these services."

The study was funded through the Michigan departments of Civil Rights and Education with a $30,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Interagency Migrant Service Committee is an interagency committee composed of representatives from 25 state and federal departments and advocacy organizations charged with providing a cooperative approach to supporting the migrant and seasonal farmworking communities. The Office of Migrant Affairs, under the Michigan Department of Human Services, leads the assessment, development and coordination of services to migrant agricultural farmworkers and family members.

The last comprehensive effort, which included county-level figures, was An Atlas of State Profiles Which Estimate Number of Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers and Members of Their Families. That report was developed in 1990 by the Migrant Health Program of the Bureau of Primary Health Care, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.