Legislative Analysis
Phone: (517) 373-8080
GUARDIANSHIP ASSISTANCE ELIGIBILITY
http://www.house.mi.gov/hfa
Senate Bill 137 as reported from House committee
Analysis available at
Sponsor: Sen. John Damoose http://www.legislature.mi.gov
Senate Bill 138 (S-1) as reported from House committee
Sponsor: Sen Jeff Irwin
House Committee: Families, Children and Seniors
Senate Committee: Housing and Human Services
Complete to: 6-11-23 (Enacted as Public Acts 68 and 69 of 2023)
SUMMARY:
Senate Bills 137 and 138 would amend the Guardianship Assistance Act to provide for
guardianship assistance program (GAP) eligibility for guardianship arrangements made by
tribal and out-of-state courts. The guardianship assistance program provides financial support
to guardians in support of eligible children, with the goal of ensuring a stable, permanent home
for children who may otherwise remain in foster care until they are 18. 1 The bills would revise
certain eligibility requirements and other provisions related to guardianship assistance and also
modify or add certain terms and definitions.
Senate Bill 138
Currently under the act, the terms guardian, legal custodian, and successor guardian are
specifically defined to mean individuals acting in those respective capacities due to an action
or finding of a court under Chapter XIIA of the Probate Code. (Chapter XIIA is known as the
juvenile code.) The bill would amend these definitions to also include actions or findings of a
court under another state’s law or code or under tribal law or code.
A child is now eligible for guardianship assistance under the act if the Department of Health
and Human Services (DHHS) determines that all of the following apply: 2
• The child has been removed from their home as a result of a judicial determination that
allowing them to remain there would be contrary to their welfare. [The bill would
amend this requirement to instead refer to a judicial determination by a state or tribal
court in Michigan.]
• The child has resided in the prospective guardian’s home for at least six consecutive
months.
• Reunification and placing the child for adoption are not appropriate permanency
options.
• The child demonstrates a strong attachment to the prospective guardian.
• The guardian has a strong commitment to caring permanently for the child until the
child reaches 18 years of age.
• The child (if 14 or older) has been consulted regarding the guardianship arrangement.
1
See https://dhhs.michigan.gov/OLMWEB/EX/GD/Public/GDM/700.pdf
2
In addition, for a guardian to be eligible to receive guardianship assistance on behalf of an eligible child, the guardian
must be the child’s relative or legal custodian; the guardian must be a licensed foster parent and approved for
guardianship assistance by DHHS; and the child must have resided in the prospective guardian’s home for at least six
months before the application for assistance is received by DHHS.
House Fiscal Agency Page 1 of 4
 Under the bill, the following additional criteria would also apply:
• Certification would have to be made before the child reaches 18 years of age.
• The guardianship assistance agreement would have to be signed by the prospective
guardian and DHHS before the guardianship is finalized by the court and before the
child reaches 18 years of age.
Certification would mean a determination of eligibility by DHHS that a foster child is
eligible for guardianship assistance or a medical subsidy, or both.
Prospective guardian would mean an individual seeking guardianship of a child if an
order appointing that guardianship has not been finalized by the court. 3
The bill also would provide that a determination by DHHS on the eligibility of guardianship
assistance does not affect a judicial finding that a guardianship should be ordered for the child.
Title IV-E guardianship assistance
Currently, if a child is eligible for federal Title IV-E guardianship assistance 4 but has a sibling
who is not eligible, the child and any of the child’s siblings may be placed in the same relative
guardianship arrangement under the juvenile code if DHHS and the relative agree on the
appropriateness of the arrangement for the sibling. In addition, Title IV-E funded guardianship
assistance payments may be paid on behalf of each sibling placed in the same arrangement
under this provision.
The bill would amend the above to allow the child and siblings to be placed in the same relative
guardianship arrangement under the juvenile code, another state’s law or code, or tribal law
or code if DHHS and the relative agree on its appropriateness for the sibling.
MCL 722.872, 722.873, and 722.874
Senate Bill 137
The act requires a legal guardianship under the act to be a relationship between the child and
guardian that is intended to be permanent and self-sustaining, as evidenced by the transfer of
specified parental rights, and that is judicially created under the juvenile code. The bill would
amend last clause to also allow guardianships that are judicially created under another state’s
law or code or, when the child is a ward of the state of Michigan, under tribal law or code.
In addition, the act currently allows DHHS to enter into a guardship assistance agreement with
the child’s prospective guardian. The bill would require DHHS to do so. In addition, an
agreement now must specify the amount of the guardianship assistance to be provided for each
eligible child and the way the payment can be adjusted periodically, in consultation with the
guardian, based on the child’s needs and the guardian’s circumstances. The bill would remove
this requirement.
3
This term is already used in the act, but its definition would be newly added by the bill. The bill also would newly
define child placing agency, also already used in the act, to mean that term as defined in 1973 PA 116, known as the
child care licensing act. (See http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?mcl-722-111.)
4
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/grant-funding/title-iv-e-guardianship-assistance
House Fiscal Agency SBs 137 and 138 (S-1) as reported from House committee Page 2 of 4
 The act now requires DHHS to make an eligibility determination within 30 days after receiving
a request for guardianship assistance. The bill would instead require the department make a
determination within 30 days after receiving a complete application for assistance. The bill
also would require DHHS to determine eligibility for guardianship assistance without regard
to the income of the prospective guardian.
Currently and under the bill, a guardianship assistance payment cannot exceed the foster care
maintenance payment that would have been paid if the child had remained in a foster family
home. The bill would additionally provide that a guardianship assistance payment includes the
determination of care rate that was or would have been paid for the child in a foster care
placement, but increased to reflect the increase made in the standard age-appropriate foster
care rate paid by DHHS.
Case service plans
The act now requires DHHS to include certain information in the case service plan for a child
whose permanency plan includes placement with a guardian and will include guardianship
assistance payments. The required information includes the steps DHHS or the child placing
agency has taken to determine that reunification and placing the child for adoption are not
appropriate options for the child; the efforts DHHS or the child placing agency has made to
discuss adoption by the prospective guardian as an alternative to guardianship; and the efforts
DHHS had made to discuss the guardianship assistance arrangement with the child’s birth
parents (if parental rights have not been terminated).
The bill would amend the above provisions to apply or refer to DHHS, the child placing agency,
or the tribal child welfare agency in places (italicized) that now apply or refer only to DHHS
or the child placing agency.
In addition, a description of how the child meets the eligibility criteria for a guardianship
assistance payment is now required to be included in the child’s case service plan. The bill
would delete this requirement and would instead require the plan to include a description of
why reunification and adoption have (or have not) been ruled out.
Adoption
Finally, the act now provides that DHHS cannot make guardianship assistance payments after
the child is adopted by the guardian or someone else under the Michigan Adoption Code or the
adoption laws of any other state or country.
The bill would remove all adoptions under the laws of other countries from this provision.
However, it would add adoptions under the laws of tribal government.
MCL 722.875 et seq.
The bills are tie-barred to one another, which means that neither bill can take effect unless both
bills are enacted.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Senate Bills 137 and 138 would increase costs for DHHS and local units of government by an
indeterminant amount. The fiscal impact of the bills would be dependent on an increased
House Fiscal Agency SBs 137 and 138 (S-1) as reported from House committee Page 3 of 4
 number of tribal members who become juvenile guardians as well as an increase in the number
of children placed under guardianship. Licensed foster parents, unlicensed relative caregivers,
adoptive parents, and juvenile guardians receive a daily maintenance rate based on the age of
the child placed in their care. Currently, caregivers of children aged 0-12 are paid a
maintenance rate of $20.69 per day. Caregivers of children aged 13-17 receive a maintenance
payment of $24.71 per day. Caregivers may also receive additional funds through
determination of care (DOC) payments for children who require additional care. Funding for
daily maintenance payments comes from a combination of state, federal title IV-E, federal
TANF, and local funds. If a child is not eligible to receive federal Title IV-E funded
maintenance payments, they may still be eligible to receive state funded maintenance
payments, which would further increase state expenditures.
POSITIONS:
Representatives of the following entities testified in support of the bills (5-9-23):
• Department of Health and Human Services, Tribal Government Services and Policy
Division
• Huron Band of Potawatomi
• Bay Mills Indian Community
• Tribal Court Chief Judge, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians
The following entities indicated support for the bills (5-9-23):
• Michigan League for Public Policy
• National Association of Social Workers
• Saginaw Chippewa Tribe
Legislative Analyst: E. Best
Fiscal Analyst: Sydney Brown
■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency staff for use by House members in their
deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.
House Fiscal Agency SBs 137 and 138 (S-1) as reported from House committee Page 4 of 4


Statutes affected:
Substitute (S-1): 722.872
Senate Introduced Bill: 722.872
As Passed by the Senate: 722.872
As Passed by the House: 722.872
Public Act: 722.872
Senate Enrolled Bill: 722.872