SAVES Grant Seeks to Provide Trauma Informed Approaches to Child Support Services

By Elizabeth West, Management Analyst, Friend of the Court Bureau; and Amy Rebideaux, Muskegon County Friend of the Court Director

In early 2021, the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) issued a grant proposal called Safe Access for Victims’ Economic Security (SAVES). OCSE accepted proposals for a 5-year demonstration project with a focus on comprehensive domestic violence policies, procedures, and program services to increase safe access to child support services for victims/survivors while looking at all domestic relations matters through a trauma-informed lens.

The Friend of the Court Bureau in the State Court Administrative office (SCAO FOCB) and Muskegon County applied for the grant in June 2021, and was awarded one of the 16 demonstration grants in September 2021. Michigan’s grant proposal was unique among the 16 grantees in that it created a two-track approach – a county-specific track and a state workgroup track.

During the grant writing, the grant team learned that the family violence data within MiCSES has fluctuated over the past ten years. As of June 2021, 23.7 percent of all open Michigan IV-D cases contain a family violence indicator. The numbers reported in MiCSES are much lower than the national average reported.

County Clerks and Friends of the Court Working Together To Address Domestic Violence

By Tim Cole, Management Analyst, Friend of the Court Bureau and Stacy Westra, Management Analyst, Trial Court Services

Sadly, domestic violence occurs too often in domestic relations cases. Because of this, it is important that county clerk and friend of the court (FOC) offices work together to ensure a safe environment for domestic violence victims.

Keeping Michigan Families ‘Safe and Together’

By Tiffany Martinez, LMSW, Project Director, Michigan Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention and Treatment Board

In 2015, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) entered into a formal contractual relationship with the Safe & Together Institute™ for the purposes of adding a domestic violence enhancement to the current child welfare practice model known as MiTEAM. In addition, the MDHHS is supporting certified Safe & Together trainers to provide training and support related to the MiTEAM Domestic Violence Enhancement to all public and private children’s protective services and foster care staff within the state.

The Importance of Screening Friend of the Court Cases for Domestic Abuse

No Friend of the Court office (FOC) can adequately anticipate when violent acts will occur. However, identifying domestic abuse early in a case allows the FOC to take proper precautions to promote the safety of the parties, their children, and court personnel. In addition, identifying domestic abuse early in a case allows the FOC to gather information about the parties’ circumstances that is needed to provide a sound factual basis for judges and referees who must issue orders governing the parties.  

How common is domestic abuse in the state of Michigan? According to the Michigan Incident Crime Reporting (MICR) statistics for 2009 (the most recent year with completed data), there were 103,331 offenses of domestic abuse reported to law enforcement.