GOVERNOR WHITMER'S 2025 BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS AND WHAT THAT MEANS FOR SOCIAL WORKERS

On February 7th, 2024, Governor Whitmer released her sixth annual executive budget recommendation. In the budget recommendation, plans for the allocation of state funds are depicted and broken down into balancing Michigan’s budget, k-12 education and higher education, lowering costs across the state, reinforcing infrastructure, public health, and increasing the pursuit of making Michigan more equitable. The full dictation of the recommendation can be found here.

 “My balanced, fiscally responsible budget recommendation for fiscal year 2025 builds on the historic investments we’ve made since I took office and delivers on the issues that make a real difference in people’s lives,” said Governor Whitmer. “Together, let’s lower costs for working families, deliver the Michigan Guarantee to offer every Michigan child a free public education from pre-K through community college, save family caregivers thousands on their taxes, and power our economic and workforce development to build and lead the future. Let’s get it done so everyone can ‘make it’ in Michigan.”

By recognizing the financial changes that may be occurring within specific aspects of our State, social workers within Michigan can gain a broader understanding of how the communities we serve may be impacted. For social workers within the education systems, the budget recommends “$300 million to continue historic investments for student mental health and school safety needs.” This allocation of State funds has the intention of increasing the number of mental health services that can be offered to children within the k-12 education systems, and such funds have the possibility of benefiting social workers within such professional areas. The budget also recommends “$125 million to provide a 5% increase in funding to support academically at-risk students, English language learners, career and technical education students, and students in rural school districts.” As consistent with the Code of Ethics, social workers are to adhere to the values of social justice and service, especially to communities of individuals who are at a higher risk of facing boundaries and discrimination within education. 

The budget recommendation also addresses a key area of interest to social workers: public health. In the public health budget recommendation, there will be “$193.3 million to establish new Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics sites across the state to serve as many as 50,000 additional individuals, providing them with behavioral health services.” This allocation of funds would directly impact social workers within behavioral health settings by providing more job opportunities across the state, as well as increasing access to behavioral health services for the clients we serve. The recommended budget also allocates funds for programs such as Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies, The Family Independence Program, and an increase to the children's foster care system for clothing and holiday allowances. 

Below are additional budget recommendations impacting social workers;

• Medicaid Behavioral Health Provider Rate Increase which increases reimbursement rates for Medicaid behavioral health outpatient services for beneficiaries with mild to moderate diagnosis ($36.1 million, unsure what the actual increase will be yet).

• New funding to address shortages in behavioral health workforce with specific emphasis in supporting students and currently employed behavioral health professionals interested in advancing in their careers: 

  • Via internship and scholarships associated with behavioral health coursework at Michigan’s public universities ($3 million in one-time federal funding)

  • Grants to lower salary professionals to support their continuing education; examination fees and supervision costs (unspecified amount)

  • Reimbursement for hospital-based SUD services provided by peers ($8.3 million to establish Medicaid reimbursement for peer provided substance use disorder services) 

  • Increase wages of non-clinical support staff in skilled nursing facilities by $0.85 per hour (nursing home specific).

• Behavioral Health Administrator within the State Appellate Defender's Office to implement the recommendations of the recent Task Force on Well-Being in the Law addressing mental health issues and substance use issues within the legal community and to establish a behavioral health administrator position to improve the courts’ response to persons with mental health issues and substance use disorders ($340,000)

• The 1115 waiver for Medicaid Re-entry: will provide a limited array of Medicaid and case management services for qualifying incarcerated individuals in state and/or local jails, prisons, and/or youth correctional facilities during their final 90 days of imprisonment ($30.5 million)

• Funding for the Michigan Crisis and Access Line to ensure individuals experiencing behavioral health crises have access 24 hours a day, seven days a week ($7.3 million).

The recommended budget changes and allocations depict an important reason why social workers within the micro-level practice should be aware of macro policies that are taking effect. The social worker who gains a job opportunity in the new Behavioral Health institution may thank the possibility due to the budget changes presented. Whether a social worker interacts with macro-level work within their profession or not, all social workers across the state are impacted by policies created at both local, state, and federal governments.

ID AND NAME CHANGE EQUITY

A package of bills introduced in the house regarding gender markers for IDs and name change  process were passed out of the House Judiciary committee. 

• HB 5300 - Sponsored by Rep. Pohutsky (D - Livonia) - Eases the legal name change process for Michiganders, INCLUDING transgender and non-binary people; AND victims of domestic violence, stalking, and harassment

• HB 5301 - Sponsored by Rep. Dievendorf  (D - Lansing) - Codifies the Secretary of State self-attestation policy and non-binary gender marker (X) for drivers licenses

• HB 5302 - Sponsored by Rep. Brabec (D - Ann Arbor)- Codifies the Secretary of State self-attestation policy and non-binary gender marker (X) for state IDs

• HB 5303 - Sponsored by Rep. Scott (D - Detroit) - Updates birth certificate statute to include a non-binary sex designation (X) and reflects Attorney General Dana Nessel’s 2021 opinion that requiring surgery to update one’s sex designation is unconstitutional.

Urge the House to Support These Bills

LICENSURE

Although there are no updates on the changes here in Michigan, let's take a look at the licensure changes across the country.

Maine, Minnesota, New York, Illinois, Utah all have bills that remove the examination requirement for the Bachelor’s and Master’s level licenses but still have the requirement for clinical licenses. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Michigan all have bills that aim to remove the examination requirement from all levels.

North Dakota has passed a bill that gives their licensing board the ability to suspend, waive, or create an alternative to the ASWB licensing exam. However, they are still working on implementing that.

Keep following along at our Action Center for the most recent updates on our Social Work Licensure Modernization Act.

JOIN MPACE

It’s election year! Make sure you are connected and engaged in grassroots political work through our Political Action for Candidate Election (M-PACE) committee! NASW-Michigan is working harder than ever to get social workers and our allies elected to the Michigan House, Senate, and the Governor's office. M-PACE works to engage social workers in political action, builds relationships between social workers and soon-to-be elected officials, and helps get people elected to office who will support our policy agenda. We need you to help us make these efforts successful.

The next meeting will be Thursday, March 14th at 1:30pm. 

Register here https://www.nasw-michigan.org/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1827570&group=

Read more about the committee