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Thousands of adoptive families could be impacted by state budget vetoes

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's 147 budget line item vetoes included funding for a statewide agency that assists adoptive families.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Adoptive Family Support Network (AFSN) serves over 5,000 adopted children across the state of Michigan, by providing their families with critical resources. 

On Oct. 1, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed 147 budget line items, the equivalent to roughly one billion state dollars. AFSN, which is one of D.A. Blodgett St. John's programs, was included in those vetoes. The program functions almost entirely off of state funding. 

"We will be able to weather the storm for a little while, but we will experience some cash flow and revenue needs probably within 30 days," said CEO/President of D.A. Blodgett St. John's, Jim Paparella. 

RELATED: Whitmer outlines her priorities after budget vetoes

AFSN, a program that's existed for 28 years, was slated to receive $250,000 from the state, but without that money, Paparella says eight staffers would lose their jobs and thousands of adoptive families across the state would be without resources. 

"These are children coming from Michigan's child welfare system, so they have a host of needs from attachment disorders to intellectual and developmental disabilities — some are medically fragile," Paparella said from the AFSN office Friday. "We can't provide enough support to these families that will take them into their homes and become their forever family."

AFSN offers a crisis line, a resource library and parent support groups. The program also trains parents to serve as mentors for families who are new to the adoption process. 

Paparella said they called on members to write letters to the governor about the impact of losing AFSN. He said the call to action effort has yielded over 900 letters, so far. 

When asked about the cuts to human services programs like AFSN, Whitmer said she had to make tough calls based on the "misuse of funds" by the legislature.

"That $400 million that paves 39 miles of road and fixes four bridges out of a thousand came out of these core functions in our correction budget. If we don't put those general fund dollars back we will go dark in monitoring 4,000 sexual predators and drunk drivers across Michigan. It has real consequences," Whitmer said Friday while visiting Prairie Ridge Elementary School in Kalamazoo County. 

RELATED: Whitmer to seek supplemental bill after big budget vetoes

"Now, is there a way if the legislature gets back to the table to negotiate and protect some of these issues that individuals are now raising? Absolutely. But, we need to get back to the table," she said. 

Whitmer also said that she is optimistic about a supplemental budget. 

"I want both parties to know that when you play politics with human services, that human lives are effected. There has to be other ways to negotiate in good faith to pass the state budget," Paparella said.

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► Emma Nicolas is a multimedia journalist. Have a news tip or question for Emma? Get in touch by email, Facebook or Twitter.

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