I want to begin by acknowledging the range of emotions you may be feeling, including anger, confusion, grief, disbelief and numbness evoked by recent events. By now, we’ve all seen the brutal murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis –  officers who are supposed to “serve and protect” the community. We’ve also experienced the painful loss of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and far too many Black lives, just in the past few months.

After spending 948 days in foster care, Christopher Hankins, 5, and De’Andre Porter, 7, were officially adopted by relatives living in Michigan.

Prior to their May 22 adoption, the half-siblings lived in approximately 10 different foster homes. The primary reason for the multiple placement changes was due to the severe emotional and behavioral issues. After approval from the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC), the two boys were placed with their great aunt and uncle in Michigan in August 2019. 

The Child Care COVID-19 Grant, which provided critical support and stabilization for more than 3,600 licensed child care providers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, is now closed.

Under the governor’s Stay Home, Stay Healthy order, many parts of our lives have been put on hold, postponed or cancelled. For people that struggle with addiction, this has been an incredibly difficult period as many if not all in-person support groups have been cancelled.