DETROIT — At its full-board meeting on Tuesday, April 16, the Wayne County Commission passed a resolution supporting Federal legislation that will require states to revise requirements regarding contacting adult relatives of a child removed from the custody of his or her parents.  

Sponsored by Commissioner Diane Webb (D-Livonia), the resolution backs legislation known as the Rehab and Ahmed Amer Foster Care Improvement Act of 2013 that was introduced by Congressman John Conyers.   

Left, Rehab Amer with Wayne County Commissioner Diane Webb.

The bill is named after Dearborn Heights couple Rehab and Ahmed Amer whose two-year-old child died tragically in a bathtub accident in 1985.  The couple immediately had two of their other children removed from their custody and placed in Michigan’s foster care system.  A year later, despite being cleared of any criminal wrongdoing in the child’s death, the State of Michigan denied the couple’s request to regain custody of their two children and in fact lost custody of yet a third child to foster care.  

During this period, Mrs. Amer’s brother petitioned the state to be designated as a foster parent to his sister’s children.  Despite his standing as an approved foster parent with a successful track record as a foster parent, the State of Michigan denied his petition.  Subsequently, the State of Michigan enacted what has become the Amer Law, which required that foster care placement agencies consider and give special preference for relatives when making a foster care placement decision.

Under Conyers’ legislation, foster care agencies should give special preference to placing a child with relatives, where the child can be raised in the same culture or religion as his or her own, all other things being equal

“The Amer’s story is a very heartbreaking one, and the pain and anguish that they have suffered should not be put on any parent,” Commissioner Webb said.  “I greatly admire their courage, conviction and commitment to change a system that mistreated them so terribly. Our resolution speaks volumes about how important it is to try and keep family units intact when it is in the best interest of the children and urges our Michigan Congressional delegation to support the legislation.”