The Michigan Child Support Program is piloting a new initiative to help families navigate the child support system. The idea came about after members of the Michigan Office of Child Support (OCS) Community Advisory Council shared stories about the confusion and frustration they often felt while trying to make their way through a system that isn’t widely understood and recommended that the program pursue a child support navigator-style pilot program.
The navigator program is active in four Michigan counties:
Calhoun (Battle Creek), Genesee (Flint), Kent (Grand Rapids), and Wayne
(Detroit). Child support offices in each county had working meetings to design
the navigator program. Service delivery models and staffing varies across
counties, with navigation services provided by a mix of state staff and
contracted partners. The OCS will collaborate in each county with organizations
in the community that have experience serving local child support populations.
Navigators will provide participants with information and
resources to help families address child support issues and connect
participants with other resources in the community. Any child support
participant with an open IV-D case in one of the pilot counties will be
eligible to work with a navigator. This includes payers and recipients of
support, as well as custodians and potential fathers who don’t yet have child
support orders.
The OCS and its partners are working closely with independent
evaluators, Michigan Public Health Institute and Mathematica, to ensure rigorous
analysis of the program’s implementation and effectiveness, including county-specific
factors. This navigator pilot is supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and
IV-D funding through a Section 1115 waiver. Navigation services became
available in the pilot navigator program counties in the summer of 2024 and
will continue for about one year.
By Julie Vandenboom
