By Tracey M. Bankhead, Muskegon County Family Court Counselor
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Friend of the court (FOC) offices across the state have had
to adjust and pivot in how they do business with the families they serve on a
daily basis. Let’s face it: people still needed the FOC to assist with the
issues of life that go along with custody, parenting time, and child support,
and facilitative information gathering (FIG) conferences were a big part of
that. However, in being forced to change how that process worked in order to
keep the people we serve and our staff safe, I believe that we learned we can
be flexible in how we provide those services. And through these changes we are providing
excellent customer service while helping families resolve issues regarding the
best interests of their children.
It’s been almost two years since our service world changed
due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Can you believe that? So, to get some
perspective, let’s think about what the FIG conferences looked like in Muskegon
pre-COVID-19. Whether it came through a divorce with minor child (DM) or custody
(DC) case filing, a referral in a court order, or through a parenting time
motion, FIG conferences in Muskegon County were conducted in person. Whoever was
working on the case would review it and gather background information, conduct
domestic violence screenings, and schedule the parties – either together or
separately, depending on the results of the domestic violence screening – for a
conference in our office within the following two weeks. The scheduling
documents would be drafted and snail-mailed to the parties.
On the date of the scheduled conference, parties would appear
– we hoped – in person (together or
separately) to meet with a family court counselor or family court specialist,
depending on the case type, and a FIG conference would take place and hopefully
a resolution reached. At the end of a conference where an agreement was
reached, parties would be seated in the hallway while the counselor or specialist
drafted their agreement. Once completed, and the parties were brought back into
the office to review and sign the agreement. If there was no agreement the
parties would leave and wait for the documents to arrive by mail. This could be
a very time-consuming process for parties, requiring time off from work,
childcare, and/or transportation – all of which could be a hardship.
So how have our processes evolved during
COVID-19? I say “evolved” instead of “changed” because, in my opinion, the
adjustments signal growth, and it was necessary growth in this technological
and uncertain age. We now serve a generation of parents who default to
technology to do business wherever possible. In addition to that segment of the
population, we serve families who cannot easily come and sit in our offices for
an appointment that may last two hours, not including travel time.
The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in widespread use of virtual
conference platforms, such as Zoom. This enabled staff to meet with parties,
either separately or jointly, and conduct FIG conferences with the same, if not
better, outcomes. Parties are no longer frustrated that they had to leave or
take time off work to come to our offices. They can take a break and join the
conference by telephone, tablet, or computer. I have had many parents express
to me at the end of a FIG conference how much more convenient the process is.
They didn’t necessarily need childcare. They could go into another room and
participate in the conference. There was no need for transportation because
they did not have to leave the comfort of their home to participate.
Even before you get to the actual conference, there are
efficiencies that have been realized in this new process. We still review the
cases and conduct domestic violence screenings, but we are able to discuss with
the parties whether an appointment sooner than two weeks works for them. Due to
COVID-19, the Michigan Supreme Court gave us the ability to serve parties via e-mail
where that information was available, making it easier to get appropriate
notice to parties and their attorneys of record. Mail was significantly slowed
during this time, which caused issues in getting notices, documents, and orders
to families. We can now more easily communicate with parties who we may not
have been able to reach otherwise due to work hours, old or inaccurate
addresses and telephone numbers, etc.
Are there issues? Of course there are issues, but that is to
be expected of any new process. As with physical addresses and telephone
numbers, e-mail addresses must be kept up-to-date with our office. I have seen
parties use the excuse, “I don’t check my e-mail regularly,” as the basis for
their objection to a recommendation. Accountability
of parties is still necessary. It remains their responsibility to update their
information when it changes.
And of course, there are parties who struggle to use
technology for one reason or another. It is my opinion that public education is
the answer for much of this, but we have to also know that nothing we do will
ever please everyone. It would be impossible to have a contingency plan for
every possible complaint, but the more flexible we’re able to be, the better
customer service we will be able to provide. Some folks we will never make happy,
but I am amazed at how well and how quickly we were able to put resources in
place for staff to give their highest level of service to the people we serve
every day and prevent major gaps in service.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been rough, but the people who work
in child support have been TOUGHER!
