Michigan Is Failing Its Foster Children & We All Need to Speak Up

Michigan removes children from their homes under one promise: protection.

When the State steps in, it tells families and the public, “This child will be safer with us.” But there is a devastating truth we are not confronting:

Michigan is failing to identify one of the most common, preventable brain injuries affecting foster children Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD).

And the cost is being paid by children, families, schools, communities, and taxpayers.

 
What Is FASD   And Why It Matters
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) are permanent, brain-based disabilities caused by alcohol exposure during pregnancy. This is not a behavior problem. It is not a discipline issue. It is neurological injury.

Children with FASD often struggle with:

Memory and learning
Impulse control
Cause-and-effect reasoning
Emotional regulation
Adaptive functioning
Yet outwardly, many “look fine.” That invisibility is exactly why FASD is so often missed and why children are punished instead of supported.

 
Foster Children Are at Higher Risk — But Michigan Isn’t Responding
National and state-aligned data consistently show that 15–30% of foster and adopted children are affected by FASD rates far higher than in the general population.

In Michigan:

Tens of thousands of children pass through CPS and foster care every year
Many enter care with unknown or incomplete prenatal histories
There is no statewide requirement for FASD-informed screening or assessment at foster care entry
Let that sink in.

Children removed “for their own protection” are placed into state care without identifying a known, lifelong disability that will shape their behavior, education, and future outcomes.

 
The Damage of Not Naming the Disability
When FASD goes unidentified, the system responds in predictable—and destructive ways:

Children are mislabeled with ADHD, ODD, or “conduct disorder”
Brain-based impairments are treated as willful defiance
Foster placements break down
Schools escalate discipline instead of accommodations
Youth cycle into juvenile justice systems
Families burn out
Kids internalize shame for things they cannot control
This isn’t theoretical. It’s happening right now, in Michigan communities.

 
The Financial Cost We Pretend Not to See
Ignoring FASD isn’t just morally wrong it’s financially reckless.

Unidentified FASD drives up costs across:

Michigan DHHS (multiple placements, services, residential care)
Special education systems
Medicaid-funded mental health services
Juvenile justice and corrections
Long-term public assistance
Conservative national estimates place the lifetime public cost of one individual with FASD in the millions of dollars.

Early identification and proper supports cost far less.

Michigan is paying more by doing less.

 
The Question Michigan Must Answer
If foster children are wards of the State…

If prenatal alcohol exposure is a known, preventable cause of lifelong disability…

Why are we not identifying and protecting these children?

This is not about blaming biological parents.
This is about state responsibility after custody is assumed.

 
What Needs to Change  Now
Michigan must act with urgency and clarity:

Require FASD-informed screening or assessment for children entering foster care when prenatal history is unknown
Train caseworkers, foster parents, educators, and providers in FASD-informed care
Track prenatal exposure and neurodevelopmental outcomes statewide
Treat prenatal alcohol education and prevention as child protection, not just public health
These are not radical ideas. They are basic protections.

 
A Call to Action for Michigan Communities
This issue will not change quietly. It will change when communities demand it.

Here’s what you can do:

Share this message with foster families, churches, schools, and community leaders
Contact your State Representative and ask where they stand on FASD screening in foster care
Support organizations and advocates working to bring awareness and reform
Refuse to stay silent when children are being harmed by systems meant to protect them
FASD doesn’t disappear when ignored.
It compounds. It costs. And it breaks lives.

Michigan can do better.
But only if we stop looking away.