Michigan Guardianship for a Child in Foster Care

The child is in foster care, you are the grandparent or relative who wants to bring them home, and someone told you guardianship might be the path. It can be — but guardianship for a child in Michigan's foster care system follows a different track than a standard probate court petition, and the differences matter for both the process and the financial support you receive.

Two Different Systems, Two Different Courts

A standard minor guardianship is filed in probate court under EPIC (MCL 700.5204 or 700.5205). When a child enters the foster care system through a child protective proceeding, the case is handled in the juvenile division of the circuit court under the Juvenile Code (MCL 712A.1 et seq.). That juvenile court retains jurisdiction over the child.

You cannot simply file a probate guardianship petition and bypass the juvenile court. If a child is under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, any guardianship or placement decision must go through that court or with its approval. The probate and circuit courts must coordinate jurisdiction while a juvenile child-protective proceeding is active.

This means your path to guardianship depends on where the child's case stands in the child welfare process.

The Relative Placement Priority

When MDHHS removes a child, Michigan law requires the agency to give preference to relatives for placement before placing the child with a non-relative foster family. The caseworker is required to identify and evaluate relatives within 30 days of removal.

If you are identified as a potential relative placement, MDHHS will conduct a home study, background checks (including the Central Registry and criminal history), and a safety assessment. If approved, the child can be placed with you as a relative foster placement while the juvenile case continues.

This relative placement is different from a guardianship — you are caring for the child under the supervision and authority of the juvenile court and MDHHS. The child remains a ward of the court.

From Foster Care to Guardianship

Guardianship becomes an option when the juvenile court determines that the permanency goal for the child is no longer reunification with the parents and is not adoption. Under Michigan's permanency planning framework, subsidized guardianship is a recognized permanent placement option.

The court and MDHHS must find that:

1. Reunification and adoption have been ruled out as permanency goals
2. The child has been in your care for at least six consecutive months
3. A strong attachment exists between you and the child
4. You are committed to providing a permanent home

At this point, the juvenile court may establish a juvenile guardianship as the permanency plan. The juvenile court's order and the caseworker will explain what court oversight continues.

The Guardianship Assistance Program (GAP)

This is the financial piece that makes guardianship from foster care different from a standard kinship guardianship. Michigan's Guardianship Assistance Program provides ongoing monthly subsidies to relatives who become guardians of children who were in foster care.

GAP benefits include:

• Monthly payments comparable to the foster care maintenance payment the child was receiving
• Medical coverage. Medicaid may continue through the guardianship assistance program when the child meets the applicable Title IV-E or state-funded eligibility rules; MDHHS determines eligibility.
• One-time, nonrecurring guardianship expenses (up to $2,000) to cover costs associated with obtaining legal guardianship

To qualify for GAP, the child and prospective guardian must meet the program's eligibility rules, including:

• Removed from their home by the court
• Living in your home for at least six consecutive months before the assistance application
• In a placement where reunification and adoption are not appropriate permanency options, with a strong attachment to you and your commitment to provide a permanent home
• Eligible for either Title IV-E or state-funded guardianship assistance. Title IV-E funding has an additional six-month licensed-relative-foster-parent requirement; a child who is not Title IV-E eligible may qualify for state-funded assistance.

The licensing requirement is important: you must become a licensed foster parent to qualify for GAP. MDHHS has a streamlined relative licensing process, but it still requires training hours, a home study, and compliance with licensing standards.

What If You Do Not Want to Be Licensed?

If you are caring for the child as an unlicensed relative placement, you do not meet GAP's licensed-foster-parent requirement unless you become licensed and satisfy the other eligibility rules. You can still explore a private probate guardianship after the juvenile case is closed, but private probate guardianships outside the child-protective foster-care system are not eligible for GAP.

Without GAP, you can still apply for other benefits for which the child is eligible, including Child-Only FIP and Medicaid.

If the child's caseworker has not discussed GAP with you, ask before the court finalizes guardianship. The guardianship assistance agreement must be signed before the court appoints the guardian.

Working With MDHHS and the Caseworker

Throughout this process, your caseworker is your primary point of contact. They manage the permanency plan, the home study, the licensing process, and the GAP application. Maintaining a cooperative relationship — attending reviews, meeting deadlines, keeping documentation current — moves the case forward.

If you feel the caseworker is not responsive or is not explaining your options, you can contact the MDHHS office that oversees the case, ask to speak with a supervisor, or reach out to a kinship navigator through the MSU Kinship Care Resource Center.

Our Michigan Guardianship and Custody Court Process Guide covers both the probate guardianship track and the foster-care-to-guardianship pathway, including the forms, hearings, and financial supports available to relative caregivers.

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