Child welfare workers and Michigan's family court legislation: The relationship between policy and practice

Michigan created a family court in 1998, combining in a single court jurisd iction over mast family law roses. This study examines the third welfare wo rkers' role in creating the family court, the family court's impact on chil d welfare workers' practice, and child welfare workers' efforts to educate other professionals on the potential benefits of the family court system. T his study found that child welfare workers were not actively involved in th e creation of the family court and have not aggressively sought to educate other professionals regarding the family court's potential. Further, though child welfare workers' reception of the family court has largely been posi tive (or at least neutral), third welfare workers must take greater advanta ge of the family court system to improve the effectiveness of their practic e.