HB5443: SUMMARY OF BILL REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE (Date Completed: 7-29-20)

KINSHIP CAREGIVING H.B. 5443 (S-1) & 5444:

SUMMARY OF BILL

REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE

House Bill 5443 (Substitute S-1 as reported)

House Bill 5444 (as reported without amendment)

Sponsor: Representative Kathy Crawford (H.B. 5443)

Representative Frank Liberati (H.B. 5444)

House Committee: Families, Children and Seniors

Ways and Means

Senate Committee: Families, Seniors and Veterans

CONTENT

House Bill 5443 (S-1) would enact the Kinship Caregiver Advisory Council Act to do the following:

-- Create the Kinship Caregiver Advisory Council within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

-- Require the Council to consist of certain members associated with the DHHS, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the State Court Administrator, and 19 public members appointed by the Governor and representing certain interests related to kinship caregiving.

-- Specify that the purpose of the Council would be to study the prevalence and needs of kinship caregivers and the children they care for and advocate for reform that would contribute to a better coordinated, consumer friendly, and family-centered system, among other things.

-- Specify things the Council could do to fulfill its duties, including establishing a public awareness campaign to educate the public about kinship caregivers and the State's efforts to better serve them and accepting Federal money granted for the purposes of the bill as well as gifts, grants, bequests, or donations from individuals, private organizations, or foundations.

-- Subject to receiving funds as prescribed by the bill, require the Council to conduct an assessment on kinship caregivers and children being raised by kinship caregivers.

-- Not later than 18 months after the date of the Council's first meeting, require the Council to provide an initial report to the Legislature, the Governor, the DHHS, the Foster Care Review Board Program, the Children's Trust Fund, and the Governor's Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect.

-- Require the Council to provide a follow up report that met certain requirements each year to the same entities that received its initial report.

House Bill 5444 would enact the Kinship Caregiver Navigator Act to do the following:

-- Require the DHHS to establish and maintain the kinship caregiver navigator program.

-- Require the DHHS to enter into a contract with a third party to provide the navigator services to kinship caregivers.

-- Specify the requirements that the navigator services provider would have to meet, including consulting with the Kinship Caregiver Advisory Council on the design and continuation of the navigator program and promoting partnerships between public and private agencies to increase knowledge of the needs of kinship families, among other things.

-- Specify the requirements that the navigator program would have to meet, including assisting kinship caregivers in learning about, finding, and using programs and services to meet the needs of the children they were raising and working with State, local, and nonprofit agencies that promote service coordination or provide information and referral services, among other things.

-- Create the Kinship Caregiver Navigator Fund within the State Treasury and allow the State Treasurer to receive money or other assets from any source for deposit into the Fund.

The bills are tie-barred.

Legislative Analyst: Tyler VanHuyse

FISCAL IMPACT

House Bill 5443 (S-1) would have a negative fiscal impact on the DHHS and no fiscal impact on local units of government.

The bill would require the DHHS to provide support and coordinated services to the Council sufficient to carry out its duties, powers, and responsibilities. As the bill lists several areas of purpose that the proposed Council would have to act upon, the cost to provide support and coordinated services is uncertain but could be significant depending on the extent to which the DHHS interpreted providing support and coordinated services. The DHHS has estimated the initial cost of the Council at up to $200,000 of Gross appropriations for incremental staffing costs.

Additionally, the bill would allow members of the Council to be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses in the performance of their official duties, subject to appropriation. The amount that the Legislature would have to appropriate for this purpose is unknown. For reference, the table will show a selection of councils, boards, and commissions under the DHHS umbrella.

DHHS Board, Commission, Councils, and Task Forces

Behavioral Health Advisory Council

Cancer Genomics Program Steering Committee

Certificate of Need Commission

Child Abuse, Neglect and Prevention Board (Children's Trust Fund)

Child Lead Exposure Elimination Commission

Child Welfare Partnership Council

Community Action & Economic Opportunity

Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities

Crime Victim Services Commission

Developmental Disabilities Council

Disability Health Advisory Council

Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention and Treatment Board

Emergency Medical Services Coordination Committee

Governor's Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect

Guy Thompson Parent Advisory Council (GTPAC)

Health Information Technology Commission

Human Trafficking Health Advisory Board

Institutional Review Board

Medical Care Advisory Council

Mental Health Diversion Council

Michigan Commission on Services to the Aging

Michigan Committee on Juvenile Justice

Michigan Community Service Commission

Michigan County Social Services Association

Michigan Health Equity Steering Committee

Michigan Health Information Technology Commission

Michigan Interagency Migrant Services Committee

Michigan Pharmacy and Therapeutic Committee

Michigan State Council for Interstate Juvenile Supervision

Michigan Stroke Systems of Care Committee

Michigan Suicide Prevention Commission

Public Health Advisory Council

Recipient Rights Advisory Committee

Sexual Assault Evidence Kit Tracking and Reporting Commission

This is believed to be a comprehensive list of all boards, commissions, councils, and task forces that are housed within the DHHS.

The total annual costs for the operation of these boards, commissions, and councils is not available; however, the DHHS did provide information for a possible comparison for the proposed Council: the Governor's Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect. The Task Force is estimated to spend $400,000 of Gross appropriations annually to convene a conference and

other forums, underwrite systems training provided by the State Court Administrative Office, conduct surveys, staff support, and reimbursement for food and mileage for members.

The bill also would require an assessment on kinship caregivers and children being raise by kinship caregivers to be completed. The DHHS estimates that this assessment would cost approximately $500,000 in Gross appropriations for a longitudinal study of children in care. The bill would allow funding for the assessment to be provided by grants from nonprofit entities, other third parties, or appropriations from the Legislature.

House Bill 5444 would have a modest fiscal cost on the State and no fiscal impact on local units of government. Since the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has an existing contract with a kinship caregiver navigator program, the bill would codify an existing DHHS program. The existing contract for the Kinship Navigator Program with the Kinship Care Resource Center at Michigan State University School of Social work is approximately $427,700 of Gross appropriations for fiscal year 2019-2020. The DHHS estimates that under the requirements of the bill, a Kinship Caregiver Navigator Program would cost between $400,000 and $500,000 in Gross appropriations for future fiscal years.

Date Completed: 7-29-20 Fiscal Analyst: John Maxwell

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.