next up previous contents index
Next: Minnesota Up: Michigan Previous: Legal Access   Contents   Index

Shelter Restrictions

The State of Michigan's statutory provisions for youth separate those who are homeless from those who are in foster care. According to § 400.18d,346 the Department of Social Welfare is authorized to set up temporary shelter for homeless dependent or neglected children. The Michigan courts have also held that sheltering homeless youth does not constitute aiding and abetting runaways. Often, federal rules that require temporary shelters to notify parents within 24-72 hours are seen as sufficient. Therefore, states rarely pass their own shelter restriction statutes. As a result, the shelter of runaways is often prosecuted under aiding and abetting runaway statutes. Michigan has such a statute. However, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that these statutes do not apply to runaway shelters. According to People v. Ison,347 the aiding and abetting statute is not meant to be read so broadly as to include homeless shelters and runaway hotlines. The only established laws on youth shelters in Michigan are federal.348



Footnotes

...346
Mich. Comp. Laws § 400.18d (2002).
... Ison,347
346 N.W.2d 894 (Mich. App.1984).
...348
Paradise and Horowitz, supra n. 12.

next up previous contents index
Next: Minnesota Up: Michigan Previous: Legal Access   Contents   Index
LCD Law Office #2