New FOC Director Trainings and Resources

By Danelle Hove, Customer Service Clerk, Friend of the Court Bureau 

The Covid-19 pandemic brought great shifts to Friend of the Court (FOC) offices across the state. These changes accompanied an influx of new FOC directors and deputy directors, along with new staff to train, budgets to prepare, and increased caseloads. In order to assist our new FOC directors, the FOC offers remote New Director training. The most recent cohort began on Tuesday, September 26, 2023, with weekly sessions being held from 9:00- 10:00 am. If you are interested in joining this training, please email PoetzL@courts.mi.gov.

OCS Listening Sessions

By Julie Vandenboom, Michigan Office of Child Support Program Re-Engineering Specialist

In July and August 2023 the Office of Child Support (OCS) conducted a series of four Listening Sessions. These initial sessions were offered to individuals who expressed interest in providing additional feedback to the child support program after attending one of the OCS Advisory Council Information Sessions. Several child support professionals had the opportunity to hear the lived experiences of families served by the child support program.

Michigan Family Support Council Annual Conference: Thoughts from a First-time Attendee

 By Lisa Harris, Management Assistant, Friend of the Court Bureau

The ride up to the Michigan Family Support Conference (MFSC) at Boyne Mountain Resort was so beautiful and refreshing!  My lungs were filled with the fresh up-north air while I squinted as the bright sun peeked through the clouds, watching as the contrast of fall-colored leaves appeared the farther north we drove.  I was so full of excitement, but also nervousness. I was presenting that afternoon at 3:15 pm and had signed up to help with registration before that. I was chatting on the ride up with my co-worker, Liz, and enjoying the scenery so much that I had almost forgot I was soon going to stand in front of 40 of my child support colleagues, and hoped not to bumble every word of my presentation.

MCSF and Support Determination Google Group is Live

The Friend of the Court Bureau (FOCB), in partnership with representatives from friend of the court and prosecuting attorney offices, has created a new Google group focused on questions and answers about the Michigan Child Support Formula and support determinations. The group is designed to be user-led and will create a library of questions and answers users can search as needed.  Membership is open to employees of prosecuting attorney and friend of the court offices who perform support determinations (either establishing order, or review and modifications). 

To be added to the group, please e-mail Paul Gehm, Lisa Harris, Amy Rebideaux, Christen Schwab, or Jennifer Granzow.

Additionally, if you are interested, but not already a part of the Friend of the Court Bureau’s other Google groups, including Intergov, Motivational Interviewing, and Alternative Dispute Resolution, please feel free to reach out to Lisa Harris, the FOCB Management Assistant at harrisl@courts.mi.gov.

SAVES Grant Seeks to Provide Trauma Informed Approaches to Child Support Services

By Elizabeth West, Management Analyst, Friend of the Court Bureau; and Amy Rebideaux, Muskegon County Friend of the Court Director

In early 2021, the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) issued a grant proposal called Safe Access for Victims’ Economic Security (SAVES). OCSE accepted proposals for a 5-year demonstration project with a focus on comprehensive domestic violence policies, procedures, and program services to increase safe access to child support services for victims/survivors while looking at all domestic relations matters through a trauma-informed lens.

The Friend of the Court Bureau in the State Court Administrative office (SCAO FOCB) and Muskegon County applied for the grant in June 2021, and was awarded one of the 16 demonstration grants in September 2021. Michigan’s grant proposal was unique among the 16 grantees in that it created a two-track approach – a county-specific track and a state workgroup track.

During the grant writing, the grant team learned that the family violence data within MiCSES has fluctuated over the past ten years. As of June 2021, 23.7 percent of all open Michigan IV-D cases contain a family violence indicator. The numbers reported in MiCSES are much lower than the national average reported.

Motivational Interviewing as a Tool to Serve the Whole Family

By Amy Lindholm, Management Analyst, Friend of the Court Bureau

What are we really trying to accomplish through our services? The Michigan child support program’s strategic plan states a vision of “engaging parents to improve children’s lives,” and that our purpose is “to achieve families’ well-being and self-sufficiency through a family-centered, holistic approach.”  We want to improve children’s lives and strive for entire families’ well-being and self-sufficiency, yet we typically only try to interact, beyond information-gathering, with the parent who is supposed to pay child support. And this usually only happens when that person is not paying enough, and then we make contact through a punitive action or threat of punishment.

How can we actually get better at “engaging parents”? We know that a lot people with a case avoid any contact with our program, and when we start asking parents why, some of the responses are that they are not experiencing individualized treatment or feel they are not truly heard. And this is understandable to anyone who has worked an enormous FOC caseload and felt the pressure of limited time to spread across hundreds of cases.

As a Door on FOC Career Closes, Another Opens

By Mary Katherine Neumann, Oakland County Friend of the Court Custody and Parenting Time Specialist

Retirement always seems such a faraway event and then one day WOW - it is here. You feel you have accomplished many goals throughout your journey as a professional, but you know in your heart when it is time to retire. It is time for me to retire from Oakland County and the Friend of the Court. My mother always said when one door closes, another one opens. This describes my 32 years as a social worker in Oakland County. When I started this journey as a social worker, I would have never guessed that I would end up working at the Friend of the Court as a Custody and Parenting Time Specialist.

My journey as a social worker began in 1986 when I received my Master’s Degree in social work from Wayne State University. I worked at Oakland Family Services for five years, providing group treatment to children who were sexually abused. This linked me to working with Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office and being an advocate for victims who were going to testify in criminal trials. The Prosecutor’s Office developed the Child’s Sexual Assault Unit and posted a position for a social worker.

Friend of the Court Alternative Dispute Resolution Training and Qualification Requirements

 By Timothy Cole, Friend of the Court Bureau Management Analyst

MCR 3.224 requires the State Court Administrative Office (SCAO) to establish training and qualifications requirements for friend of the court (FOC) alternative dispute resolution (ADR) providers.  MCR 3.224 outlines three basic FOC ADR services - 1) FOC domestic relations mediation, 2) facilitative and information-gathering conferences (FIGCs), and 3) joint meetings.  This article will provide SCAO training and qualifications, information on Circuit Courts requesting a waiver for training and qualifications, and information on training opportunities.

Education requirements

The education requirements to provide FOC domestic relations mediation and FIGC is a bachelor’s degree in social sciences, education, or a related field, or a juris doctorate.  For joint meetings the education requirements are a bachelor’s degree in social sciences, education, or a related field, or an associate degree and two years of experience working with families.

Announcing New Friends of the Court

The Friend of the Court Bureau would like to welcome and introduce new local FOC directors.

Trinja Henrickson

Friend of the Court

51st Circuit Court, Mason County 

Education and experience:

Bachelor of Arts, Grand Valley State University

Prior to my promotion, I was a Friend of the Court case manager.

Interests and activities:

In my free time, I love spending time with my three wonderful children.