By Jessica Castañeda, Allegan County FOC and Reyna Masko, Ottawa County FOC
In child support
enforcement, we have all had our share of tough cases. Often these cases
involve parents struggling to make consistent payments. Parents who fail to timely
pay support find themselves in their local Friend of the Court (FOC) office
facing contempt proceedings for failure to pay and may serve jail time for
their noncompliance. At times its seems that the only effective recourse or
remedy available to the FOC caseworker is to have the payer of support “pay or
stay.”
The Alternative Contempt Track docket, better known as ACT or the ACT Program, is a problem-solving court that allows the court an intermediate solution alternative to civil contempt or criminal nonsupport for non-payment. The program is designed as a child support enforcement model that provides holistic, family-centered ways of removing barriers preventing parents from financially supporting and being actively involved in their children’s lives, thereby ending the “pay or stay” cycle.
The Alternative Contempt Track (ACT) Program was first created in Allegan County in accordance with MCL 552.635a - Alternative Contempt Track Docket. In collaboration with the Friend of the Court in Allegan County, the 48th Circuit Court Administrator, and the 48th Circuit Court Chief Judge, Hon. Margaret Z. Bakker, the ACT Program was brought to life and implemented as a pilot program in February of 2017. After the 48th Circuit Court’s Local Administrative Order was signed by Chief Judge Bakker and approved by SCAO, Allegan County became the first Friend of the Court office to have an ACT Program.In 2020, the
Ottawa County Friend of the Court began working toward implementing its own ACT
Program in the hopes of creating a similar specialty docket in the 20th Circuit.
However, plans for the ACT program in Ottawa County came to a screeching halt
when the world was brought to a standstill by the COVID-19 pandemic.
With assistance
from Allegan County’s FOC ACT Program, Ottawa County FOC was successful in
implementing an ACT program in January of 2021, when 20th Circuit Chief Judge,
Hon. Jon Van Allsburg, signed Administrative Order 2021-01 “Alternative
Contempt Track Docket” plan. SCAO then
approved the FOC in Ottawa County as the second court to offer the ACT Program.
ACT participants
work with an FOC caseworker to create an individualized, detailed pathway of
success focused on removing barriers preventing them from regularly paying
their child support obligation. The FOC caseworker encourages participants to
self-identify goals and supports them in achieving those goals. The FOC then
collaborates with a variety of local agencies and organizations to arrange
services to address each participant’s individualized needs. Allegan and Ottawa
FOC offices often share information about resources and community agencies for
referrals to better serve the parent participants in both programs.
The ACT docket
itself is assigned to a dedicated circuit court judge who holds review hearings
for ACT participants every month. At these hearings, the court is updated on
the participant’s progress with the court ordered case service plan and
participants are recognized and praised for their efforts and encouraged to
continue to make improvements. Case service plans and court orders are modified
as needed.
Since the ACT
program has been in place, Allegan and Ottawa counties have both experienced an
increase in consistent, timely payments from participants. Even more striking
are the significant strides participants have made in effectuating life changes
that not only directly impact themselves but have a positive impact on their
children and extended families.
In Ottawa County,
one ACT participant entered the program struggling with PTSD resulting from
past military service and depression from the loss of a parent. The participant
was provided counseling services through Mosaic Counseling and began working
with West Michigan Works to obtain a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), which
was a long-term personal goal.
During CDL
training, the participant obtained full time employment with Amazon as a
delivery driver. The ACT participant now enjoys working for Amazon and has not
missed a support payment since starting the program. Further, the
participant now earns enough income to make additional payments towards
reducing past-due child support.
This ACT
participant successfully completed the program on June 17, 2022. The
participant’s family members attended the discharge hearing (similar to a
program graduation), and they described how the program not only positively
impacted the participant’s life, but the family’s life as well. The ACT
participant’s mother thanked the court and offered these words: “It has been
brutal for two years for my family. We lost my beloved to COVID, and we lost my
son the very same day. I cannot say thank you without adding this. Thank you
for all of your work, thank you for not giving up, thank you for this program,
thank you for not giving up.”
Another
participant entered the ACT program in Allegan County with numerous medical
issues and had not worked in over two years. He was hesitant to enter the
program due to having had negative experiences with the court in the past. Once
admitted to the program, he was referred to Michigan Rehabilitation Services to
assist him in finding employment that would work with his medical disabilities.
He was given a job coach, and after a few short months, secured employment and
began making consistent timely payments to his child support case.
At his graduation
from the ACT program, he expressed his gratitude to the court for the
opportunity to participate in ACT. He also shared that, after years of
having parenting time issues, he was able to see his children more often. His increase in parenting time also allowed
his mother and grandmother to more frequently spend time with their
grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The participant
described the ACT program as going beyond just helping to change the lives of
the participants but extending to positively impact the lives of those surrounding
the participant. This participant continues to work, has been able to move from
his mother’s home to his own apartment, is making consistent timely payments
and keeps in touch with the FOC caseworker to share continued successes in his
life.
These stories are
only two short highlights describing the impact of the ACT program and the life
changing achievements participants have experienced. Participants have been
empowered to provide financial support for their children, but for some, they
are also able to be a regular consistent physical presence in their children’s
lives for the first time.
Allegan and Ottawa
counties are working to grow the ACT Program. It is our hope that more Friend
of the Court offices implement an ACT program in their courts.
To learn more
about the ACT Programs in Allegan and Ottawa reach out to Jessica Castaneda, specialized enforcement officer at Allegan County FOC via
email at: jcastaneda@allegancounty.org or Reyna Masko, Investigator and Outreach Coordinator, Ottawa FOC via email at: rmasko@miottawa.org
