Michigan's child welfare system will have more resources to provide support for foster children and the families that care for them under federal legislation that Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm supported and Congress approved this week.

Granholm, who chairs the National Governors' Association Health and Human Services Committee, wrote Congressional leaders in early September expressing support for the Fostering Connection to Success and Increasing Adoption Act, a two-bill package that promotes significant changes to state child welfare programs.

"As Michigan continues its aggressive plan to reform the child welfare system, this gives us important tools that will help children," said Ismael Ahmed, director of the Michigan Department of Human Services. "We urge the president to sign these bills so that we can more quickly move children into safe, permanent homes and provide them and their families with the resources they need."

The bills contain the following improvements that provide greater opportunities for later success:

• Extending and increasing incentives for adoption, including those that promote adoption of children with special needs and older foster youths.
• Making federal assistance available so states can offer guardianship payments to grandparents and other relative guardians of foster youths who want to permanently care for them.
• Making it easier for immediate relatives to step in and raise children when their parents cannot by requiring notification of relatives when children are removed from their parents and offering grants to link caregivers with the services their children need.
• Helping older youths in foster care transition to adult life by allowing them to continue to receive federal foster care payments beyond the age of 18. 
• Making federal matching grants to state, local, or tribal child welfare agencies and experienced private nonprofit organizations to help children in or at risk of entering, foster care to reconnect with family members.
• Improving educational opportunities for foster children and youths.

Specifically, Michigan has the option of allowing foster youths to remain in care until the age of 21 and to extend Medicaid until age 22. Access to affordable housing, education, healthcare and even establishing credit are challenges frequently cited by older foster youths leaving care at 18 or 19 years of age.

"This a great start," said Shawn Semelsberger, 22, a former foster youth from Traverse City. "A lot more needs to be done and it's going to be an ongoing process. Foster youths simply don't have a network of caring adults to help them as they as they become adults themselves."

Semelsberger works with a network of youth boards across Michigan. She helped author Voice 2: Discussing Issues and Concerns of Michigan's Foster Youth and develop the Foster Youth in Transition Web site, www.michigan.gov/fyit