As Foster Care Awareness Month draws to a close, the State Court Administrative Office’s Foster Care Review Board (FCRB) program is calling for more volunteers as it released its 2024 Annual Report, which shows that the program reviewed 240 cases involving 476 children in 2024. The FCRB program works to ensure that children are placed in safe, permanent homes as quickly as possible and investigates appeals by foster parents who believe that children are being unnecessarily moved from their care. There are currently around 10,000 children in Michigan’s foster care system.
“We owe it to vulnerable children and families in Michigan to protect them and to ensure timely permanency for children in the foster care system,” said Justice Kimberly A. Thomas, the Michigan Supreme Court’s liaison on child welfare matters. “Without the dedicated individuals who volunteer their time through the Foster Care Review Board toward this mission, the successes reflected in this report would not be possible.”
Recruitment for membership on the FCRB 12 regional review boards is year-round, but interested individuals are encouraged to submit applications by August 1, 2025. Interviews and background checks are required. Applicants are welcome from around the state and are urgently needed in these areas: Northern Michigan; the Upper Peninsula; and Calhoun, Clinton, Eaton, Ingham, Livingston, Washtenaw, and Wayne counties.
In addition, the report shows the real human impact of the FCRB program by including feedback from individuals who have participated in the process. Following is a sampling of anonymous comments:
“Everyone that participated were knowledgeable about the case and had the children's best interests at heart.”
“The review board was very pleasant to work with and I believe they made a fair outcome of the case and what should happen from here on out with the case, and I respectfully agree with everything they said in the fact findings of the
case.”
“The Board was very respectful, allowed everyone time to provide input, and asked insightful and meaningful questions.”
“We owe it to vulnerable children and families in Michigan to protect them and to ensure timely permanency for children in the foster care system,” said Justice Kimberly A. Thomas, the Michigan Supreme Court’s liaison on child welfare matters. “Without the dedicated individuals who volunteer their time through the Foster Care Review Board toward this mission, the successes reflected in this report would not be possible.”
Recruitment for membership on the FCRB 12 regional review boards is year-round, but interested individuals are encouraged to submit applications by August 1, 2025. Interviews and background checks are required. Applicants are welcome from around the state and are urgently needed in these areas: Northern Michigan; the Upper Peninsula; and Calhoun, Clinton, Eaton, Ingham, Livingston, Washtenaw, and Wayne counties.
In addition, the report shows the real human impact of the FCRB program by including feedback from individuals who have participated in the process. Following is a sampling of anonymous comments:
“Everyone that participated were knowledgeable about the case and had the children's best interests at heart.”
“The review board was very pleasant to work with and I believe they made a fair outcome of the case and what should happen from here on out with the case, and I respectfully agree with everything they said in the fact findings of the
case.”
“The Board was very respectful, allowed everyone time to provide input, and asked insightful and meaningful questions.”
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