Encouraging Better Compliance with Motivational Interviewing

By Tom Blohm, Director, Macomb County Friend of the Court, and Amy Lindholm, Management Analyst, SCAO Friend of the Court Bureau

In the emotionally charged world of custody, parenting time, and child support, every friend of the court (FOC) needs as many tools in its toolset as possible to engage noncompliant or even stubborn individuals. We often deal with inherently good people whose judgment is clouded during our interactions with them because of the emotions they are struggling with.

The Macomb County Friend of the Court (Macomb FOC) first learned of motivational interviewing from the administrator of the Macomb Juvenile Court. The juvenile court trained all of its probation officers in motivational interviewing and found it very effective.

Randy Estes (far right) from the Center for Strength-Based Strategies based in Mason, MI, conducted the 2-day motivational interviewing training for our child support audience and some of the Macomb Juvenile Services staff.

Friend of the Court Amnesty Week in Muskegon

By Amy Rebideaux, Staff Attorney, Muskegon County Friend of the Court

The Muskegon County Friend of the Court (Muskegon FOC) is working to make better connections with the community it serves. This includes efforts to provide better information and explanations to all parties and to build trust and communication with payers.

After working with the three family court judges, the Muskegon FOC decided to try to get some of the most difficult payers to come in and talk with a caseworker. Many of these payers have suspended drivers’ licenses and/or an outstanding bench warrant. To provide some incentive for payers to come in, we held an amnesty event.

During the week of March 25, parties could meet with a Muskegon FOC family court officer to try to resolve outstanding bench warrants or reinstate licenses.

Washtenaw Friend of the Court Director Judah Garber Retires

By Amy Lindholm, Friend of the Court Bureau Management Analyst

Judah Garber

Judah Garber retired from the Washtenaw County Friend of the Court (FOC) in May 2019, having served that office for 32 years. I had the pleasure of speaking with him about his career shortly before he retired.

Letting Data Guide the Way

By Ian Broughton, Manager, Office of Child Support (OCS) Planning, Evaluation, and Analysis Section

If you know me, you know that I love to travel. When I’m planning a trip, I use multiple sources of data and analytics for my decision making. I might consult TripAdvisor reviews to check out lodging or activities. I can look at restaurant ratings, reviews, and even filter by type of cuisine or meal. I also analyze historical flight price trends to help determine the best time to purchase tickets. I want my travel experience to be the best it can be, so I take advantage of the available data created by others.

We use statistics and analytics every day to make decisions in our lives.

Visualization example: Michigan child support cases by assistance type.

But of course, the statistics we use in the work we do for the children and families in Michigan is far more important than where we stay on a trip. That said, we must continue to improve our access to the information we need to make decisions in the child support program.

Using the Electronic Document Exchange

By Sheila Waldrop, Case Management Policy Manager, Office of Child Support; Jillian Thelen, Child Support Specialist, Interstate Central Registry, Office of Child Support; and Elizabeth Stomski, Management Analyst, SCAO Friend of the Court Bureau

The Electronic Document Exchange (EDE) is a portal provided by the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) that allows secure transmission of documents between states and counties. It can be used to transmit documents not only interstate, but also intrastate for responding to requests from other counties within the same state. Michigan began using EDE on August 24, 2018. EDE is currently used by 30 states, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Wisconsin will begin using EDE July 1, 2019. (See the map below for the states currently using EDE.)

EDE State Status map, last updated October 23, 2018, available on the Federal Child Support Portal.

Announcing New Friends of the Court

By Friend of the Court Bureau

There have been many new faces in friend of the court leadership over the past couple years. A few of the newest directors provided some information about themselves to help everyone in the Michigan child support program get to know them better.

Michigan Family Support Council Conference Updates

By Amy Gilmore, Michigan Family Support Council Vice President

The Michigan Family Support Council (MFSC) is a non-profit organization established in 1982 and consists of members who work in child support and understand Michigan's needs for professional development training and program involvement to support Michigan families.

Cole Williams of Son to a Father presents at the Central MFSC Region’s spring conference.

The MFSC is divided into four organizational regions (see map below). Every spring, each region hosts a one-day training conference as a supplement to the annual MFSC three-day fall conference held at Boyne Mountain in October.

Legal Corner - July 2019

"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.