Action Alert for Michigan: No Vaccine Coercion in Family Assistance Plan

Call Michigan DHS and Tell Them They Do Not Have The Right to Coerce Poor Families into Vaccinating According to the CDC’s Schedule

 
Michigan is currently taking comment on its new Temporary Assistance for Needy Families State Plan.  Part of that plan is to include a measure that coerces families into vaccinating their children according to the CDC’s aggressive vaccine schedule:

“9.  Immunizations

Children under age 6 must receive scheduled immunizations.   At redetermination, twenty-five dollars per month is deducted from the family’s payment standard for failure to have one or more children under age 6 immunized according to schedule.”  http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dhs/TANF_StatePlan_2012_368298_7.pdf

The State of Michigan has no right to punish families for making health decisions for their children that differ from those coming from a run away and unaccountable federal public health bureaucracy in Atlanta that bears no consequences for injury that arises from their irresponsible, one size fits all policy.  

MI DHS issued the following press release on November 9, 2011:

“DHS seeks comment on 2012 TANF plan

Contact:  Jim Labadie 517-241-4287

November 09, 2011

Michigan Department of Human Services today announced the public comment period for its 2012 TANF State Plan. The agency administers Michigan’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families grant that provides public assistance programs, including the Family Independence Program, adoption subsidy, child day care and other benefit programs.

Michigan must submit its TANF State Plan to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for renewal. As part of the renewal process, citizens, local governments and private organizations can submit comments on the plan and its design of services.

Michigan’s current TANF State Plan also can be viewed on the DHS Web site by clicking on “News, Information and Publications,” “Reports” under “What’s New.”

To view the proposed TANF State Plan effective January 1, 2012, please click here. Revisions to Michigan’s TANF State Plan since the last renewal in 2010 include:

  • TANF and state time limits.
  • Assessed value of real property must be less than $500,000.
  • Earned income disregard increase to 50%.
  • 9 year olds removed as a dependent child and the addition of school requirements of a dependent child.
  • Persons convicted of two or more drug related felonies are ineligible.
  • Temporary deferrals from the employment and training program. 
  • Employment related sanctions and removal of the initial excuse offer.

DHS must submit the plan by December 31, 2011, and will accept public comments for the next 45 days. Comments can be submitted by fax or email using these instructions:

To acquire a hardcopy version of the state plan, or to get more information on the public comment process, please contact Dale Shaw at 517-373-7338 or send mail to Department of Human Services, Division of Family Program Policy, Grand Tower Suite 1306, P.O. Box 30037, Lansing MI 48909.

For more information, please visit the DHS Web site.

Follow us on Twitter @MichiganDHSor find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MichiganDHS.”

Contact Michigan DHS and tell them to remove provision 9 from their Basic Eligibility Requirements from the plan before the plan goes into effect on January 1, 2012.