Policies governing children's protective services, foster care, and adoption are developed and implemented by the Department of Human Services (DHS) and maintained in separate manuals for each program. The manuals provide instruction and guidance to caseworkers and supervisors in carrying out the responsibilities of each case. The CPS policies apply only to DHS, while the foster care and adoption policies apply to both DHS and private agencies contracted by DHS The policy manuals are accessible on the Internet at the link below.

www.mfia.state.mi.us/olmweb/ex/html

If you are concerned that a caseworker may not be complying with policy, bring the issue to the worker's attention. It is important to understand, however, that many of the policies overlap with each other, allow for considerable worker discretion, or may be difficult to understand or interpret without having received policy training. In other words, keep an open mind when raising your concerns with the worker.