By Jeanette Miracle-Leshan, Chief Assistant
Friend of the Court, Oakland County
The Michigan
Family Support Council (MFSC)
convened more than 500 child support professionals at its Fall Conference at
beautiful Boyne Mountain from October 17 to 19, 2018.
The keynote speaker, Rev.
Dr. Michael Oleksa, shared insight from his experiences teaching children in
Alaska, meeting their families and weaving that into a message about communicating
across cultures. The talk was powerful and enlightening as we strive to learn
different ways to best serve all our customers. Additionally, Rev. Dr. Oleksa
offered a breakout session on Culture & Communication that further delved
into strategies for dealing with complications in interpersonal communication.
This session and several others qualified as customer service training required
by the new Contract
Performance Standards,
which applies to friend of the court and prosecuting attorney employees.
Office of Child Support
Director Erin Frisch and Friend of the Court Bureau Director Steve Capps
jointly presented program information and current program goals.
 |
| Erin Frisch (on stage, left) and Steve Capps (on stage, right) engaging Michigan child support professionals. |
The MFSC Board elected new
state officers:
- President – Jeanette Miracle-Leshan, Oakland County
- Vice President – Amy Gilmore, Office of Child Support
- Treasurer – Sheila Waldrop, Office of Child Support
- Secretary – Marcia Coughlin, Saginaw County
As always, service awards presentations
thrilled the audience. The MFSC
accepts nominations for service awards throughout the year. This is one way to
provide recognition for hard-working child support professionals.
The
2018 award winners are:
- Mike Fortman - (Kent County) Outstanding Achievement Award
- Jamie Eichenberg - (Osceola County) Friend of the Court Staff Award
- Nancy Ruonavaara - Office of Child Support Award
- Lisa Watts - (Ingham County PA) Prosecutor Staff Award
- Dana Porter - (Calhoun County) Prosecutor/Assistant Prosecutor Award
On behalf of the MFSC, I would like to extend
my sincere gratitude to each of these individuals for their dedication to the
Michigan Child Support Program.
Silent auction figures are
still being tabulated, but it’s safe to say it was a great success. This year’s
recipient is the nonprofit organization, Bay Cliff Health Camp, Children’s
Therapy and Wellness Center. A
presentation by the Bay Cliff representative included many heartfelt and
compelling stories which demonstrated the life-changing impact they have on
children and adults with disabilities.
For those who missed the conference but would like to review material presented in the breakout sessions, you can access available materials from sessions online. If you do not already have a member account with MFSC, you will need to first request login credentials using the instructions on the web page.
Next year’s MFSC Fall Conference will be held: Wednesday October 2 through Friday, October 4, 2019. Note the conference’s location will remain at Boyne Mountain. MFSC provides e-mail notifications for further updates such as when 2019 conference registration opens.
For those who missed the conference but would like to review material presented in the breakout sessions, you can access available materials from sessions online. If you do not already have a member account with MFSC, you will need to first request login credentials using the instructions on the web page.
Next year’s MFSC Fall Conference will be held: Wednesday October 2 through Friday, October 4, 2019. Note the conference’s location will remain at Boyne Mountain. MFSC provides e-mail notifications for further updates such as when 2019 conference registration opens.
Jeanette
Miracle-Leshan, Chief Asst. FOC responsible for Financial Operations, has
worked for Oakland County FOC since 1990 and has been a member of the regional
and state boards of the MFSC for many years. This fall, the MFSC elected
Jeanette as the new president.
