Michigan is putting $180,000 toward specialized legal representation for the roughly 11,000 children in foster care and their parents facing court proceedings, a modest investment in a strategy proven to speed up reunification but complicated by a shortage of willing lawyers in rural areas.

The funding comes through Title IV-E, the main federal foster care program, which Congress opened up for legal services in 2011 after years of evidence showed that parents and children with skilled attorneys are more likely to stay together or reunify faster. Michigan's allocation addresses what child welfare advocates call a justice gap: many counties still lack enough trained lawyers to handle the caseload, especially in the Upper Peninsula and northern Michigan, where some counties have only one or two attorneys taking court-appointed child welfare cases.

Black families bear the brunt of the shortage. Black children make up roughly 15% of Michigan's child population but account for nearly half of those in foster care, concentrated in Wayne County, which holds a quarter of the state's cases. Delays in legal proceedings stretch out placements, and inadequate representation has been tied to worse outcomes in multiple studies.

The $180,000 will fund attorneys for both sides: children in state custody and parents fighting to keep or regain custody. It's a piece of Michigan's broader effort to implement the 2018 Family First Prevention Services Act, which prioritizes keeping families intact when safe to do so.

The money is part of Michigan's 2025 foster care budget, posted in October. The state has reduced its foster care population from over 13,000 in 2019, but progress on racial disparities has stalled. Advocates say stronger legal representation is one tool that works, if Michigan can find enough lawyers to do the job.