New FOC Director Trainings and Resources

By Danelle Hove, Customer Service Clerk, Friend of the Court Bureau 

The Covid-19 pandemic brought great shifts to Friend of the Court (FOC) offices across the state. These changes accompanied an influx of new FOC directors and deputy directors, along with new staff to train, budgets to prepare, and increased caseloads. In order to assist our new FOC directors, the FOC offers remote New Director training. The most recent cohort began on Tuesday, September 26, 2023, with weekly sessions being held from 9:00- 10:00 am. If you are interested in joining this training, please email PoetzL@courts.mi.gov.

MCSF and Support Determination Google Group is Live

The Friend of the Court Bureau (FOCB), in partnership with representatives from friend of the court and prosecuting attorney offices, has created a new Google group focused on questions and answers about the Michigan Child Support Formula and support determinations. The group is designed to be user-led and will create a library of questions and answers users can search as needed.  Membership is open to employees of prosecuting attorney and friend of the court offices who perform support determinations (either establishing order, or review and modifications). 

To be added to the group, please e-mail Paul Gehm, Lisa Harris, Amy Rebideaux, Christen Schwab, or Jennifer Granzow.

Additionally, if you are interested, but not already a part of the Friend of the Court Bureau’s other Google groups, including Intergov, Motivational Interviewing, and Alternative Dispute Resolution, please feel free to reach out to Lisa Harris, the FOCB Management Assistant at harrisl@courts.mi.gov.

ACT Program Provides Parental Support

 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.

Did You Know? Communication Options and Restrictions for State Prisoners

 By Amy Lindholm, Management Analyst, Friend of the Court Bureau

Editor’s note: The information communicated here is current as of March 2022 and applies to prisoners in Michigan Department of Corrections facilities. Communication options and restrictions may be different for county jail inmates, out-of-state prisoners, or prisoners in federal facilities.

Announcing the Child Support Specialty Docket Establishment Guide

By Nikki Withrow, Management Analyst, Friend of the Court Bureau (FOCB)

The FOCB recently published the Child Support Specialty Docket Establishment Guide to help courts develop and implement child support specialty dockets (CSSDs).  The guide discusses both planning and operational considerations and contains targeted questions to shepherd the planning process.  The guide also provides tips and examples from other specialty courts.

Introducing the New “Dashboards & Visual Reports” Tool -- aka Data Visualizations, aka Data Viz

By Amy Gilmore, Performance Management Specialist with the Planning, Evaluation, and Analysis Unit, Michigan Office of Child Support

Have you noticed a change to the “Application Quick Links” on mi-support lately? Need a hint?

Good Health & Wellbeing during Quarantine

By Abigail Tithof, Human Resources Specialist, State Court Administrative Office

It seems there is no greater task before us than to make it through this uniquely challenging period of separation from life and love as we knew it before COVID-19.  Early on, it seemed that a (then) minor change in reality could only be perceived in waves.  There were enough daily activities that we could still pursue, so as not to notice the more dramatic changes lurking around the corner.  In early March, someone mentioned toilet paper and pondering why people were snatching it off the shelves, as if we were unconsciously picking a random, benign item to distract us from the bigger picture.  It did not compute to me all those weeks ago, as your average human resources worker, that we were in for more than just an exercise in good stewardship of restroom supplies. 

Tips for Working Remotely

By Kiesha Gibson, Law Clerk, SCAO Friend of the Court Bureau

[Editor's note: The following tips for working from home have been adapted with permission from SCAO’s internal “Tips for Working from Home.”]

Starting in January 2020, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has impacted life around the world.  In Michigan, Governor Whitmer announced a state of emergency in March and signed the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” Executive Order, which required those of us who could to work from home to lower the spread of infection.  Getting accustomed to working from home has challenges in itself.  Whether you feel isolated, have frequent family or pet interruptions, or just have trouble staying focused, there can be some difficulty working from home.

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.

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.

Make Way for Self-Service Reporting!

By Amy Gilmore, Performance Management Specialist, Office of Child Support

Business Objects database users in Michigan Friend of the Court (FOC) offices will soon be enjoying MiCSES case management data at their fingertips. Self-Service Reporting (SSR) is now officially underway with an approved charter.  The goal of the SSR project is to enable FOC workers to create, manage, and share reports of MiCSES data without having to engage central development staff for each report. SSR will help support counties moving to more data-based decision making by allowing them to obtain the data most relevant to them in a timely manner.

New Google Group for Enforcement

By Paul Gehm, Management Analyst, State Court Administrative Office (SCAO)

Michigan’s child support enforcement professionals have gained a valuable tool and effective way to communicate with each other.  SCAO recently created an Enforcement Google Group to assist Michigan’s IV-D enforcement staff in a forum-type setting to discuss often nuanced and in-depth case scenarios.

Measuring Program Efforts and Successes: IV-D Contract Performance Standards Launch October 1, 2018

By Thomas Watson, Director, Berrien County Friend of the Court

The beginning of the upcoming fiscal year – October 1, 2018 – marks the date of implementation of the Contract Performance Standards (CPS) provision contained in the current Cooperative Reimbursement Program (CRP) grant contracts for all friend of the court (FOC) and prosecuting attorney (PA) offices statewide.

Culminating a lengthy development process involving a cross-section of all partners involved with Michigan’s Title IV-D Program, the CPS introduce realistic performance benchmarks in both the establishment and enforcement functional areas of child support while demonstrating the effectiveness of the program. The CPS are not intended to be punitive; rather, they are designed to focus on the successes of the program. They provide evidence of achievements of the many dedicated child support professionals serving the public.

Eight Years of EmPOWERing Parents through a Problem-Solving Court

By Stephanie Witucki, Chief Domestic Relations Referee, Third Judicial Circuit Court

Securing payment of child support by noncustodial parents is an important step toward engaging both parents to work together in parenting their child(ren).

Two POWER Court participants proudly display their certificates of completion as their accomplishments are recognized by 3rd Circuit Court Chief Judge Robert J. Colombo, Jr. (far left), Referee Stephanie Witucki (second from right), and Wayne County Friend of the Court Director Kent Weichmann (far right).

Kent County Friend of the Court Creates Programs to Address Community Concerns

By Dan Fojtik, Director, Kent County Friend of the Court

During the past year, the Kent County Friend of the Court (FOC) experienced important changes starting with the assignment of two sheriff’s deputies to handle child support warrants.  That prompted objections from some community members, voicing concern about deputies making door-to-door arrests in the inner city.

Kent County FOC Responsible Parent Program caseworker Deb Martis
helps a payer navigate job searching at a designated work station.

Working Together to Improve Outcomes for Incarcerated Parents

Erin Frisch

Every year, the partners of Michigan’s child support program gather for “Partner Forum,” where representatives from friends of the court, prosecuting attorneys, the Office of Child Support, and the Friend of the Court Bureau (collectively, the “partners”) discuss, brainstorm, and strategize about key issues. On Wednesday, November 15, 2017, the partners met in Lansing at the Hall of Justice and spent the majority of the day talking about the overlap between corrections and child support – a topic that historically has not received much attention. 

The Office of Child Support director, Erin Frisch, welcomed everyone and set the tone by relating her own journey on the topic of incarcerated parents. Her view evolved from a feeling that incarcerated and formerly incarcerated parents should not receive special attention – to a realization that within this population lies an opportunity for the child support program to significantly improve upon its mission of “engaging parents to improve children’s lives.”

Students Bring a Fresh Perspective to FOC Basics

By: Julie Vredeveld, Operations Unit Manager, Kent County Friend of the Court

Like many offices, we have struggled to find ways to provide parents with information about often complicated friend of the court (FOC) processes early in their case. We think we have found the answer by partnering with Grand Valley State University (GVSU) and Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS) to create a series of short animations that explain complicated FOC processes in a fun and easy-to-understand way. The animated videos are accessible from our Kent County FOC YouTube channel and posted on our website homepage, www.accesskent.com/foc.

GRPS middle school students share their final work product with their classmates. Also pictured: Kent County FOC Director Daniel Fojtik and Operations Unit Manager Julie Vredeveld (back row, center), GVSU Film & Video Production professor Suzanne Zack (front row, second from right), and GRPS teacher Jen Hall (front right).

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS: A Special Focus on Communication Tools for Courts

By Michelle Le Feve, Executive Director, Courtland Consulting

Today’s Communication Tools Increase Productivity & Team Collaboration

Courtland Consulting works with many courts, agencies, organizations, and businesses to share our knowledge of new tools and technology trends that can help people do their job and market their programs and services. This Technology Trends article is the third in a series to share opportunities to take advantage of new online tools to easily collaborate and save time when working on team projects or delivering services to customers.

Enforcing with Purpose: Developing a Tool to Help Guide Child Support Enforcement

By: Paul Gehm, FOCB Management Analyst

You are working your alerts like a dutiful IV-D worker when you suddenly stop and scroll back up. Something caught your attention: the case – the one that always gives you and your office headaches. The payer’s time is up, again, and it is time to trigger another show cause hearing because the payments have not been made. Even show cause is hit or miss with this payer. Why does it work sometimes and other times not at all? When does enforcement work? Why does it work? What does it mean to be successful with enforcement? These and many other questions will be answered by the SCAO Friend of the Court Bureau (FOCB) workgroup tasked with developing an enforcement manual. 

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS: A Special Focus on Graphic Design & Content Creation Tools

Michelle Le Feve

By: Michelle Le Feve, Courtland Consulting

[Editor’s Note:  This article is the second in a three-part series of articles that focus on the availability of technological resources to help courts collect information and perform efficiently.  While certain products are highlighted, this is not an endorsement of one product over another.]

Through my work with Courtland Consulting, I share knowledge of new tools and technology trends with many courts, agencies, organizations, and businesses.  These technological advances can help people do their jobs more efficiently and market programs and services more effectively.  This Technology Trends article is the second in a series that I am writing to share how people and companies are taking advantage of new online tools to collaborate and work on projects, saving time and money.