Michigan residential child caring facilities say they are struggling under strained system

Individuals who go into work at child welfare systems in residential programs for kids are enduring frequent physical violence, spitting and threats to their employment under a system that needs updated rules, representatives of child caring facilities in Michigan told lawmakers Tuesday.

Most entry level professionals are only remaining at Eagle Village residential program in Osceola County for 3 to 6 months, president of the facility Cathey Prudhomme told lawmakers in a meeting of the House Child Welfare System, Public Health and Food Security joint committee. While availability at facilities has shrunk in the last decade, youth entering residential facilities are exhibiting more violent and aggressive behavior towards staff. 

“For some of our children, the best gift we give them is a chance to take a break in a safe, secure, healthy environment where they can do the internal work so that they can again re-enter into a community setting,” Prudhomme said. “However, in the past 10 years, we’ve seen a real transition in residential care, and we’ve seen a real decrease in providers for many reasons.”

There have been a few cases of abuse and neglect at child caring facilities that have shone a spotlight at the need for good policies for caring for Michigan’s most vulnerable kids, Prudhomme said, noting the 2020 death of 16-year-old Cornelius Fredericks after several members of staff at the now-closed Lakeside Academy in Kalamazoo restrained the teen on the ground.

But since the state implemented new rules against using restraints on kids at child caring facilities, Prudhomme said children are weaponizing the new policies, destroying tens of thousands of dollars of property and further endangering other residents as staff are not able to appropriately address dangerous behaviors.

Prudhomme said six other child caring facilities would have been interested in speaking at the committee Tuesday, but out of fear of retribution by the state, fear of being shut down, they did not speak up.

A request for comment was sent to the Michigan Department of Health Human Services, but was not returned.

So as it gets more difficult to serve children with high demands of need after they’ve been placed at child caring facilities ill-equipped to address their needs, Prudhomme said Eagle Village, which has been in operation for more than 50 years, is questioning why they continue to try to operate.

Back in 2020, Michigan had around 1,200 bed spaces in residential youth programs, serving children experiencing a range of issues and traumas with the goal of helping them navigate their lives successfully when they leave, Dan Gowdy, President and CEO at Wedgwood Christian Services in West Michigan told lawmakers. As of the start of this month, Gowdy said the state has 423 residential bed spaces.

And as need remains high for residential programs, Gowdy said he worries that kids are being placed at “any place” instead of the “right place” sharing that there’s a young man at his residential facility who has been undergone 40 different placements.

At Wedgewood things are becoming unsustainable, Gowdy said, with assaults perpetrated by youth residents increasing by 64% from the measured timeframe this year, compared to 2024. He said self-injuries amongst youth residents increased by 107% and hospital and police interventions both starkly increased by more than 400%.

“All of this has unintentionally destabilized children who have already been through significant trauma, and also puts extraordinary pressure on facilities’ frontline staff, significantly increasing injuries, burnout and turnover. This further diminishes the capacity to effectively serve the kids with what they need when they need it,” Gowdy said. “All of us…the department… shelters and legislators, I think our goal is to care for and support these kids and families the best we can. We must work together to develop strategies that provide the most effective and transformative services.”