Organizers and volunteers of the Muslim Foster Care Association (MFCA) hosted a buffet-style meal and celebration for its third annual Ramadan iftar, bringing Muslim foster youth and families together.

Iftar is the meal where Muslims break their fast during Ramadan.

There was a row of savory food from the halal restaurant Sukho Thai in Dearborn Heights, and a table full of sweet treats like knafeh and enormous Macadamia cookies.

MFCA Co-founder Sameena Zahoor welcomed the attendees. 

“I want to thank the families and the foster parents and the families are helping the foster parents and the foster youth that are here today,” she said.

Many Muslims spend time fasting, praying, and doing extra worship with a community during Ramadan. However, many Muslim foster children in Michigan end up spending Ramadan in non-Muslim foster homes — alone. 

MFCA wanted to provide a space for the youth to be in community with others.

Salifu Mahmoud previously lived in a non-Muslim home as a foster youth since resettling from Ghana about three years ago. He now lives in independent housing in Canton. 

He says fasting during Ramadan is an important part of his religious practices.

“Living with someone who is not like Muslim, like foster care, it’s kind of hard in Ramadan,” he shared.

Mahmoud says his former foster care provider was unaware of his religion or obligations during Ramadan — such as waking up early to eat suhoor, the morning meal before fasting, or praying Taraweeh in congregation at a mosque during Ramadan nights. 

This year Mahmoud is staying with a Muslim family during Ramadan, allowing him to experience the familial and communal practices of the month.

“Since I moved to America, this is my best Ramadan,” he said, reflecting that it reminds him of his Ramadans in Africa. “They [his Muslim foster parents] treat me like their kids, showing me love.” 

At the iftar, Tonja Baker, a therapist who works for Whaley Children’s Center in Flint, came to learn more about MFCA.

“I was connected through this program for one of our youth at the campus, and managed to be able to bring her down and have her enjoy, you know, Iftar, and be able to just meet and greet with the other families that are here,” she said.

It’s important for the staff to learn culturally competent care to provide services or Muslim youth, Baker said, and the center tries to link Muslim youth to mosques in the area, but resources are scarce.

In addition to the iftar, MFCA passed out Ramadan 215 baskets filled with goodies like dates, halal marshmallows, and a Target gift card to Muslim foster youth in Michigan. 

Shereen Abunada, director of operations at MFCA, says she’s been working to increase the number of Muslim foster parents, but many are feeling burnout.

“That happens when parents have a placement that doesn’t go as well as they had hoped,” she said.

There are about 10 licensed Muslim foster families for the state’s 250 Muslim foster youth, 50 more than last year.

Abunada says the number of Muslim youth in the system has increased. In anticipation of potentially changing immigration policies, resettlement agencies recently expedited travel for Muslim foster youth from West African countries.

“So we’ve had an influx of about 50 to 70 youth that have just recently arrived in the in the past couple months,” she said.

Abunada says unaccompanied refugee minors feel vulnerable.

“A lot of them are also just the fear of being deported, the fear of being targeted. A lot of these kids are just by themselves, kind of going back to their own, their home countries, or trying to find other places to be,” she said.

Abunada says organizations and agencies are working to protect the children.

Hosting the iftar was one way to create a community for the foster youth, as they navigate the next steps in their journeys.

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Education in the U.S. is facing upheaval. The Department of Education is dissolving as President Donald Trump makes good on his campaign promise to dismantle it. 

Last week, Trump signed an executive order directing the education secretary to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities.”

States and local communities already largely control education in the U.S. But some conservative activists have long opposed the department and its role as a civil rights watchdog. Since Trump took office in January, the department has paused thousands of its civil rights investigations.

Trump has blamed the department for lagging student achievement. He argues it is part of a “bloated federal system” that must be eliminated. 

One of the department’s key roles is distributing funding to many low-income districts, including Detroit schools. The Department of Education provides around 30% of the funding for the Detroit Public Schools Community District,  Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said.

Trump claims low-income districts will still have access to this crucial funding. But school officials like Vitti remain concerned. 

He sat down with The Metro co-host Robyn Vincent to discuss how the dismantling of the Department of Education would affect “all Detroit kids.”

He began by discussing one of the most pressing issues facing Detroit schools: a lack of funding — and why federal money is vital for Detroit students.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Michigan libraries are some of the latest local institutions preparing for the effects of the Trump Administration’s slashing of federal agencies.

There are 10,000 kids in Michigan’s foster care system. About half of them are placed with a relative, known as kinship care. 

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) recently piloted a program with 16 kinship care support workers, or caseworkers, across nine counties: Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Genesee, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Grand Traverse, Lenawee and Ingham. 

MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel says when children are not able to stay with their parents safely, the state prioritizes placing them with a relative. 

“We’ve been able to create some specialized programs and positions to work with family members to make sure that they have all the supports and resources that they need to feel comfortable to take that child in on behalf of their relative,” she said.

Hertel met with kinship caregivers, advisory council members, and support staff this week at the MDHHS South Central Wayne Office in Detroit to discuss the state’s commitment toward children and kinship caregivers.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer proposed a $24.4 million budget to expand a pilot kinship care support program next year. 

The expansion would provide 70 additional kinship care support workers and family resources, Hertel said.

“Outside of just the concrete physical supports, the emotional and behavioral health supports as well,” she said. “So if children are needing therapy sessions or psychiatry, that we work to make sure that we’re connecting services to the family, not just the child, but everyone involved.”

The next step is expanding the pilot statewide. 

“We’ve been really lucky that we’ve had such support from the governor and from the legislature that they believe that this program is effective, and I’m really optimistic that we’ll be able to see an expansion next year,” Hertel said.

The money will also go toward kinship care support resource centers.

According to the MDHHS’s website, kinship care can include biological relatives or family friends caring for children through a placement by MDHHS’s foster care program, or arrangements made outside the welfare system. 

Hertel says the resource centers support all families. 

“We also support kinship care resources so that other families who may not be involved in the system have a place to reach out to,” she said, such as the Kinship Care Resource Center (KCRC) at Michigan State University.

Hertel says these caseworkers are specialized to work with families who take in foster youth who are placed with relatives.  

“In places where we have seen implementing this pilot, we are seeing an increase in some of those areas, in placements with family members,” she said.

Hertel says it’s a priority to place kids in the foster care system with next of kin whenever possible. She says this usually reduces trauma, provides more stability for children, and reduces the time they are in foster care.

The funding is part of a larger proposed $90 million budget going toward helping kids stay safe. 

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Educators have been sounding the alarm that cellphones disrupt learning. More than half of public school leaders feel their students’ academic performance has been negatively impacted by cellphone usage, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. 

Many public schools already prohibit students from having their cellphones in class, but recently state lawmakers nationwide have taken things a step further — and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is joining them.

Whitmer recently said in her State of the State address that she wants Michigan lawmakers to enact restrictions on school cell usage.

Looking at schools is only one part of the conversation. Nowadays, younger children get their hands on devices well before they enter a classroom. Forty percent of children have a tablet by the age of 2  and exposure to screen time can impact a young child’s ability to develop their behavior and communication skills.

Today on The Metro, we discuss what the impacts of technology on developing children are, both good and bad.

Guests:

• Jenny Radesky: Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Michigan Medical School.
• Jennifer Ehehalt: Senior regional manager, midwest for Common Sense Education, a nonprofit that provides research and recommendations about media and technology to families and schools.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

More headlines from The Metro on March 3, 2025:

• It’s been two weeks since a 54-inch water main broke and flooded Beard and Rowan street in Southwest Detroit, impacting over 400 households and displacing many residents. Great Lakes Water Authority CEO Suzanne Coffey joined the show to provide an update on the fix and how the agency is continuing to repair outdated infrastructure in the city.

• The Michigan Democratic and Republican parties elected new chairs last week. WDET’s All Things Considered Host Russ McNamara spoke with the Michigan GOP’s new leader, Jim Runestad, about what he envisions for the party’s future.

• The Detroit Documenters have been taking notes on growing tensions in Ferndale. Ferndale Police Department have contracted with Flock Safety, an automated license plate reader company, for over a year. Ferndale City Council is now considering renewing the contract with Flock Safety. Metro Producer Jack Filbrandt sat down with Detroit Documenters Coordinator Noah Kincade to learn more. 

• Lacrosse, initially a tradition of many indigenous people including the Anishinaabe, is making a comeback here in Detroit. Cass Technical High School lacrosse coach Liam McElroy joined The Metro to talk about how the long-established game is an enriching activity for young people in the city, thanks in part to the Detroit Youth Lacrosse League founded by Chandler Park Conservancy.

–WDET’s Natalie Albrecht contributed to this report.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Dearborn Public Schools is providing free meals for students to take home for iftar, the break fast meal during the month of Ramadan.

Subscribe to the Detroit Evening Report on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Many Dearborn students are Muslim and will abstain from eating and drinking until sunset, missing school lunch. Food service director Emi Kreste said that the district has wanted to provide Ramadan accommodations for years, but that it wasn’t possible until now.

“[The Michigan Department of Education] (MDE) and USDA has allowed, now, school districts to complete a waiver which will allow students to take the lunch at home,” he said.

MDE and the USDA have a rule stating that school lunches are only allowed to be eaten on school property.

This rule has now been amended for Ramadan.

–Reporting by Zahra Hassan, WDET.

More headlines for Tuesday, March 4, 2025:

• Broadcaster Roland Martin is planning alternative programming to President Donald Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night, inviting members of the Congressional Black Caucus, labor leaders and activists to participate in “The State of Our Union,” airing on the Black Star Network and on Martin’s YouTube channel.
• Choreographer and MacArthur “Genius” Grant winner Kyle Abraham and his dance company A.I.M. will perform at the Wright Museum of African American History on March 28-29. The series of dances were inspired by the Wright’s collection and choreographed exclusively for the museum. 
• Detroit’s Ombudsman’s Office will hold office hours at businesses and recreation centers across the city this spring and summer. The Ombudsman’s Office serves as an independent oversight and investigative agency for the city, addressing complaints and advocating on behalf of residents. The office plans to visit community sites 20 times through July 23, with the next meeting taking place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday at the A.B. Ford Community Center, 100 Lenox St.
• The Detroit Board of Police Commissioners’ Youth Advisory Panel is hosting a Young People & 21st Century Policing Symposium from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 15 at the Wayne State University Law School, 471 West Palmer Ave. Discussions will focus on youth interactions with police, bias in law enforcement, public policy and more. The event is free and lunch will be provided. Register on eventbrite.
• The Detroit Parks Coalition and the Detroit Public Library are partnering for an inaugural Bookmark Design Contest. K-12 students are invited to design a bookmark that highlights the city’s parks, libraries and people. Designs can be submitted before the end of the month. Winning designs will be published and distributed in parks and libraries and shared on social media.  

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

A Republican state lawmaker says he hopes Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s support will help get a proposal enacted into law to help reduce the distraction of students staring into electronic screens during class time.  

“She has some influence in Lansing,” deadpanned Rep. Mark Tisdel (R-Rochester Hills) in an interview on the Michigan Public Television show “Off The Record.” “So, I like that very much.”

Tisdel’s legislation would set specific rules for elementary, middle and high school classrooms. The rules would also apply to charter academies, which are publicly funded. He said some Michigan schools already have policies on student electronics in place.

“In the schools that have put this in, one of the things you hear from teachers is how tremendous it is to be standing at the front of the classroom and see 25 or 30 sets of eyeballs staring back at you instead of this stuff under the desk,” he said.

The legislation would set different restriction levels in elementary schools, middle schools and high schools. Tisdel said the restrictions would not prevent teachers from using electronic devices as part of classroom instruction.

He said many students are opposed to the idea and so are some parents who are worried about contacting their children if there is a crisis at their school.

“But the question is, how does your child communicating with you – who might be miles away from the emergency site – how does that improve or enhance your child’s safety?” Tisdel said. “You want your child focused on the trained adult that’s at the head of the classroom.”

It is a debate happening in other state capitols. And Whitmer endorsed the legislation last week in her State of the State address.  

“It’s hard to teach geometry or geography when you’re competing against memes or DMs,” she said. “Other states, red and blue, have taken action. So has most of Europe and Canada. I understand the need to be connected to your child but we can do better.”

A nationwide survey of teachers and classroom workers released last year by the National Education Association found 90% of its union members support restrictions on cell phones and other electronic devices in schools. Michigan Education Association President and CEO Chandra Madafferi endorsed the idea last year.

The Trump administration is issuing a “stop work” order to agencies who provide legal help for unaccompanied immigrant children.

That affects about 26,000 kids nationwide, roughly 800 of them in Michigan.

Some critics say the government-funded legal representation makes it more appealing for children to enter the U.S. illegally.

But the nonprofit Michigan Immigrant Rights Center counters that some of the kids were relocated from Afghanistan or simply fled from dangerous situations in other countries.

The center’s Elinor Jordan says these children often have few options when they face an immigration judge. Jordan spoke with WDET about the stop work order and the ripple effect it will have.

Listen: Michigan group says Trump’s ‘Stop all work’ order puts migrant children at risk

The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Elinor Jordan, Michigan Immigrant Rights Center: The bottom line is that this will mean children will be forced to represent themselves in court. This program helps these children reunite with caregivers, helps them access legal protection, helps them seek out protections that are available to trafficking survivors and abuse survivors. And because we’re so specialized, we’re able to provide advocates who are not only legal experts in some of these very complex areas of law but also have the ability to provide the services in a child-centered way. Sometimes that means helping a child understand the concept of a country and a border in the first place. Sometimes that means working with them to identify a stuffed animal that might help them remain calm while they’re being cross-examined. Sometimes that means helping them understand different processes by using cartoon characters to help them see what it looks like. These children shouldn’t be left alone to do this for themselves.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: In your view, is that even possible for children to represent themselves? Especially if they are at a very young age?

EJ: Absolutely not. And unlike in criminal court, in immigration court you’re not provided a lawyer if you can’t afford one. This means individuals must represent themselves, even in what the Supreme Court has identified as some of the most complicated areas of law. It’s challenging enough for adults, let alone children.

QK: Are these children being held somewhere? Are they incarcerated, typically, or are they with families?

EJ: There’s a mix of those. The legal protections that are in the Trafficking Victims Protection and Reauthorization Act require that children be held in the least restrictive setting possible. Sometimes part of our advocacy is ensuring that is the case. And there have been times when part of our advocacy is to ensure that children who have been victimized while being held by the government are able to access the protections they need to heal from sexual abuse while in custody. Part of our role is also to help them reunify with the people that make them feel safest. Maybe it’s a parent, maybe it’s a family member or a community member. But the numbers really bear out that children who are represented by an attorney are able to stay engaged in the legal process and pursue the relief that they’re lawfully eligible for. About 94% of represented children attend their immigration court hearings. So this really supports the process going more smoothly.

QK: Are these typically children that have been in the U.S. for a while or people that have come in more recently?

EJ: At times there are children who have been in the United States and experienced abuse, neglect or something similar. The majority of the children have been encountered near a U.S. border and have been unaccompanied, without any parent or legal guardian, and are placed in the care and custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Some of our work has really been instrumental in reuniting separated families. For example, during the child separation crisis in 2018 we were able to reunify all children who were moved into Michigan after being separated from their parents. That includes a child who was only 10 months old, who was actually the youngest child known to be separated from their parents. Being able to reunite them and stand in that breach is such an honor and something that really must continue to prevent some of the cruelest outcomes in this system.

QK: Your group and all the nonprofits involved were ordered to “stop all work.” But this basically means that they’re freezing the federal funding, right? Are you able to continue on with private funding?

“[The stop all work order puts] us in a very challenging position. It could impact about 80% of our total funding.”

–Elinor Jordan, attorney, Michigan Immigrant Rights Center

EJ: At the moment we are dipping into small reserves of private funding. We are doing our best because we not only have legal obligations but also ethical obligations as attorneys to continue representing our clients. Once we’ve filed paperwork with the court, we can’t simply say, “Oh, I’m not getting paid any longer. I won’t be able to do this.” We will do everything that we possibly can to see that ethical obligation through and uphold the best possible services for our clients. But it does put us in a very challenging position. It could impact about 80% of our total funding.

QK: The Trump administration had charged that the previous Biden administration did not track or protect undocumented children in the U.S, so big changes were necessary to protect migrant children. What’s your view of how this “stop all work” order is going to affect that situation?

EJ: Well, many experts agree that a lawyer is one of the most important protections to avoid children falling through the cracks of the system. We have often intervened to help children who experience abuses while in custody come forward to law enforcement when that occurs. We have often helped address housing needs that come up if they are in a dangerous situation. A lawyer is one of the most critical things to really connect the dots between the various systems that want to prevent abuse of children. Taking away their attorney takes away their voice and allows them to be trafficked, harmed and really intimidated by threats that may or may not have any legal bearing. One of the most common ways that traffickers exert power over their targets is by using fear about the immigration system to intimidate them into silence and prevent them from coming forward to officials. So, taking away a child’s lawyer strengthens the hand of a trafficker.