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�Birth Match System�Federal Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities�August 28, 2014

MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES

Stacie Bladen, Acting Deputy Director

Children’s Services Administration

Compassion. Protection. Independence.

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Birth-Match System

Precipitated by the death of one infant and severe abuse of another in Detroit - same week in September 2000.

Miracle
Jamar

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“The baby’s in bad shape.”

Miracle

Prior CPS involvement
Mother - prior terminations
Killed at 7 months

Jamar

Prior CPS involvement
Parents - prior terminations
Severely beaten at 5 months

Compassion. Protection. Independence.

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No longer leaving it to ‘chance’

Michigan Law already required a court petition if parental rights were terminated to another child and CPS determined that there was risk of harm to newborn.
Flaw – depended on chance
DHS and the Department of Community Health determined:

There should be a way to provide this crucial information on newborns to CPS

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What is Birth Match?

Statewide automated system notifies CPS centralized intake when a child is born to a parent who had:

Prior Termination
Caused death as a result of CA/N
Perpetrated egregious abuse to a child

Auto-generates a CPS complaint that is assigned for investigation

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��

Under Michigan law, the mere fact of the prior bad act of having one’s parental rights terminated in a child protection matter can be used to establish grounds to terminate on a future child.

Dittrick (1977) Laflure (1973)

Doctrine of Anticipatory Neglect
Dittrick – how a parent treats one child in his care is evidence of how a parent would treat another child in his care. Court jurisdiction based solely on the basis of a parent's treatment of another child.

Gazella (2005)

Doctrine of Anticipatory Abuse
Allows a court to use a person’s prior abuse of a child, to show that they will abuse a child in the future.

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Birth Match – Behind the scenes

Interagency Agreement
Electronic transfer
Identifying terminated parents
Matching the records
Reporting

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Birth Match – Safety of Newborns

After a match is made:

Full CPS investigation
Threatened Harm - harm is likely to occur based on:

A current circumstance OR
A historical circumstance absent evidence that past issues have been successfully resolved

Family referred to voluntary support services
Court petition filed

*The newborn is not removed simply because of the existence of parent’s past history of abuse and/or neglect.