State Rep. Ann Bollin, of Brighton Township, this week participated in a Children’s Services Agency virtual town hall. Bollin was joined by JooYeun Chang, Executive Director of Michigan’s Children’s Services Agency, and Doug Williams, Southeast Regional Director for Michigan’s Children’s Services Agency.

Rep. Bollin was tapped by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to sponsor the event after she played a crucial role in approving a budget plan funding a new initiative to redesign CSA’s centralized intake system and investigation processes. The virtual town hall served as an opportunity for the CSA to share with community stakeholders and partners an overview of the initiative geared toward redesigning our front-end child welfare system, including the handling of intakes through Centralized Intake and Children’s Protective Services (CPS) investigations.

Bollin said the initiative will better equip the CSA with the tools it needs to respond to complaints more effectively, promote desirable outcomes, and more efficiently align staff resources with family needs and circumstances. Roughly 190,000 calls are made to the department’s Centralized Intake each year with the department investigating about 100,000.

“Children’s safety is the highest priority for the CSA. The ideal way to keep children safe is to provide meaningful, timely, and effective services and supports to families experiencing challenges.” Rep Bollin said. “I would like to thank those who joined us to discuss how the agency is working with stakeholders to promote a shift to a prevention-focused model and how we can all work together to keep our children safe in their homes and communities.”

Those unable to participate may contact 855-444-3911 for additional information or to provide further input. Rep Bollin can also be reached at 517-373-1784.

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