Police could remove children from their parents only if they face an imminent risk of serious harm or with a court order, according to a bill under consideration in the state Senate. The legislation, sponsored by Sen.
“„Donald Duquette, director of the Child Advocacy Law Clinic at the University of Michigan, said no state has a lower threshold for removing children into foster care than Michigan.
“„In Michigan, a child can be placed briefly in foster care without a judge’s order even when the child faces no imminent serious harm. Duquette said other states require police or social service workers to show the child faces serious harm.
“„“To the credit of the child welfare leadership of Michigan, most were embarrassed by the (Ratte) case and recognize that the child welfare system is plagued by poor decision-making, resulting in both over-and under-intervention in families,” Duquette said. “This is one of the reasons Michigan has so many children in foster care.”