Last Chance to Register for the Fall Michigan Family Support Council Conference

By Sheila Waldrop, President, Michigan Family Support Council

Boyne Mountain Resort, fall conference site.

There are a couple important changes to note for the 36th Annual Fall Michigan Family Support Council (MFSC) Conference:

1. This year the conference is being held at Boyne Mountain (1 Boyne Mountain Rd, Boyne Falls, MI 49713). In recent years the conference was held at nearby Boyne Highlands in Harbor Springs.
2. The Conference dates are a couple weeks later this year:  Wednesday, October 17 – Friday, October 19.  Register by October 1 to receive the registration discount.

Legal Corner - September 2018

"The Legal Corner" provides a summary of recent Michigan Supreme Court and Michigan Court of Appeals decisions relevant to the child support program, as well as recently released state memoranda.

Beyond the Numbers: Coaching ‘24/7 Dads’ in Van Buren County

By Aaron Rosecrans, Custody and Parenting Time Case Manager, and Abel Muñoz, Early Intervention Case Manager, Van Buren County Friend of the Court

The numbers behind fatherlessness are staggering. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 24 million children in America – one out of three – live without their biological father in the home. Research shows that when a child is raised in a father-absent home, he or she is more likely to experience behavioral problems, commit a crime, spend time in prison, face abuse and/or neglect, abuse drugs and/or alcohol, suffer from obesity, and drop out of school. In fact, girls who grow up without a father are seven times more likely to become pregnant as a teen, and they have twice the risk of infant mortality.

Abel Munoz (left) and Aaron Rosecrans (right), present the Van Buren FOC’s 24/7 Dads program session on co-parenting.

Building Family Resiliency in Wexford and Missaukee Counties

By Shelly Harwell, Social Service Technician, Wexford-Missaukee Friend of the Court

In July 2018, the Wexford-Missaukee Friend of the Court (FOC) was awarded a $40,000 competitive grant from the Michigan Masonic Charitable Foundation to expand our Family Resiliency Project over the next year. The objective of this project is to help families develop the self-reliance necessary to meet their court-ordered obligations, and to minimize toxic stress associated with separation and divorce, a common Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE).

County Clerks and Friends of the Court Working Together To Address Domestic Violence

By Tim Cole, Management Analyst, Friend of the Court Bureau and Stacy Westra, Management Analyst, Trial Court Services

Sadly, domestic violence occurs too often in domestic relations cases. Because of this, it is important that county clerk and friend of the court (FOC) offices work together to ensure a safe environment for domestic violence victims.

Office of Child Support Staff Attend Workshop on Systemic Racism

By Amy Coscarelli, Case Management Policy Analyst, Office of Child Support

Michigan Office of Child Support (OCS) staff recently attended “An Introductory Workshop on Systemic Racism,” which was conducted by members of Eliminating Racism & Creating/Celebrating Equity (ERACCE). ERACCE is an organization in Kalamazoo that provides training, workshops, consultation, and technical support on cultural competency and antiracist institutional organization throughout Michigan.[1]

‘Systemic racism’ refers to all of the policies and practices in institutions that can harm certain racial groups while helping others.

Navigating International Case Processing under the Hague Convention

By Elizabeth Stomski, Management Analyst, Friend of the Court Bureau

The Hague Convention of 2007 on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance (“Convention”) came into force in the United States on January 1, 2017. 

Countries displayed in blue have signed the Hague Convention’s treaty on International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance (as of September 2018).

Measuring Program Efforts and Successes: IV-D Contract Performance Standards Launch October 1, 2018

By Thomas Watson, Director, Berrien County Friend of the Court

The beginning of the upcoming fiscal year – October 1, 2018 – marks the date of implementation of the Contract Performance Standards (CPS) provision contained in the current Cooperative Reimbursement Program (CRP) grant contracts for all friend of the court (FOC) and prosecuting attorney (PA) offices statewide.

Culminating a lengthy development process involving a cross-section of all partners involved with Michigan’s Title IV-D Program, the CPS introduce realistic performance benchmarks in both the establishment and enforcement functional areas of child support while demonstrating the effectiveness of the program. The CPS are not intended to be punitive; rather, they are designed to focus on the successes of the program. They provide evidence of achievements of the many dedicated child support professionals serving the public.