Students Bring a Fresh Perspective to FOC Basics

By: Julie Vredeveld, Operations Unit Manager, Kent County Friend of the Court

Like many offices, we have struggled to find ways to provide parents with information about often complicated friend of the court (FOC) processes early in their case. We think we have found the answer by partnering with Grand Valley State University (GVSU) and Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS) to create a series of short animations that explain complicated FOC processes in a fun and easy-to-understand way. The animated videos are accessible from our Kent County FOC YouTube channel and posted on our website homepage, www.accesskent.com/foc.

GRPS middle school students share their final work product with their classmates. Also pictured: Kent County FOC Director Daniel Fojtik and Operations Unit Manager Julie Vredeveld (back row, center), GVSU Film & Video Production professor Suzanne Zack (front row, second from right), and GRPS teacher Jen Hall (front right).

Here’s the story of how and why we developed this project. In the past, we required that parties to a new case attend orientation in our office. Many parents struggled to find time during our business hours to attend in person, and downtown Grand Rapids parking was an added expense during already difficult financial times. In response, we recorded staff explaining FOC processes in a set of 5-10 minute videos, which parents could either watch online or view at our office. Despite these attempts to make it easier to attend, participation continued to decrease. Continual follow-up work enforcing participation in the program was time-consuming and contradictory to our goal of working more positively with parents. We also wondered how much parents were taking away from the materials provided.

With this in mind, we reached out to Suzanne Zack, Affiliate Professor of Film and Video Production at GVSU. We learned that adult learners will retain only about 5 percent of information presented in a lecture and about 20 percent of information presented via audio visual methods. We also learned that videos best provide only one piece of information. So we worked with students from one of her classes to develop two short videos outlining the importance of keeping address information up to date and avoiding the snowball effect that occurs when people try to avoid court problems. The results were great, but seemed like only the start of a larger project.

Ms. Zack volunteers her time with middle school students, teaching them animation and film making. She suggested we bring GRPS, GVSU, and the Kent County Friend of the Court office together to create a series of animations which take important FOC information and make it easily digestible and even entertaining. GVSU Writing Department students helped us develop scripts that took complicated FOC processes and made them easy to understand. GRPS middle school students then took these scripts, developed creative ways to share the information, and then worked with the GVSU Film and Video Production students to create animations. The Grand Rapids Community Media Center provided the work space and equipment needed for the technical development of the work product. Our FOC office staff was involved throughout the process to make sure the animations reflected our actual processes and conveyed the appropriate message.

The making of these animations was a great success. Our office staff has been amazed at the creativity shown by the middle school students. Who knew “Ways to Make Child Support Payments” could be funny? The students really enjoyed having the opportunity to create animations from start to finish and took pride in the finished product. As I watched the GRPS students share the videos with their peers, I was struck by the fact that these students now probably know more about how the FOC works than many adult parents who have been involved with our system for years.

The short informational videos, such as “Ways to Make Child Support Payments,” play for those waiting in the Kent FOC lobby.

Wondering about cost? The design of the work product came at no cost, thanks to the mutually beneficial relationship with GVSU and GRPS. The schools welcomed the hands-on experiential learning opportunity for their students. Our only expense for the project was about $300 for membership and usage of the Grand Rapids Community Media Center’s facilities and equipment.

Most importantly, the videos on our website have been viewed far more than even our best years of orientation, with some videos being viewed over 600 times in the past four months. Because of the high viewership, we recently started looping the videos on a screen in our lobby with more detailed information onscreen between videos.

Julie Vredeveld

If you have questions about this project, feel free to contact me at Julie.Vredeveld@kentcountymi.gov.