(Source: MIRS.news, Published 03/28/23) A new grant for nearly $1.26 billion to enforce child support payment orders through the state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) was the largest of a series of the latest grants approved during the State Administrative Board’s March 28 meeting.
The DHHS grant – which is made up of 100% federal funds – would stretch from Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 through FY ‘28 after it was approved through the Finance and Claims Committee portion of the board.
It would provide support to initiate and carry out proceedings to enforce child support payment orders, along with establishing and maintaining support orders regarding custody, parenting time, health care coverage and other child support topics.
The grant was one of several approved or amended through DHHS, which also included one contract amendment allocating an additional $12 million to Abbott Laboratories in Abbott Park, Illinois.
The FY ‘23 federally funded amendment would boost the grant up to $22 million for Abbott Laboratories to increase the contract value and continue purchasing BinaxNow COVID’19 test cards to mitigate the spread in long-term care facilities.
Other larger grants approved by the board included $14.5 million from FY ‘23 through FY ‘27 through the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) to develop an academy focused on alignment of closing skill gaps through “attracting, upskilling and reskilling a mobility workforce across the state and serving historically underserved populations while creating a robust talent pipeline concerning the electrification of vehicles.”
The grant is 13% federally funded and 87% sourced through the general fund.
The state's Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) received $10 million in additional grant dollars towards a Michigan State AFL-CIO Workforce Development Institute in Lansing, totaling $18 million in general fund dollars allocated for the project.
The FY ‘23 - FY ‘25 project would assist underrepresented populations in economically disadvantaged communities with training to help land jobs in the building trades, construction and transportation industries.
Also approved were two new contracts through the state's Department of Technology, Management and Budget (DTMB), the first of which would provide $12 million in Information Technology Services restricted funds over five years.
The funding could be used for licenses, maintenance and support for the Michigan Department of Transportation's (MDOT) engineering software.
The second DTMB contract would allocate $8.6 million over five years to Monster Government Solutions in Weston, Massachusetts.
The 50% federal, 40% GF and 10% restricted grant funding would go towards the purchase of a new secure case management system that would assist LEO in complying with federal mandates.
