Letting Data Guide the Way

By Ian Broughton, Manager, Office of Child Support (OCS) Planning, Evaluation, and Analysis Section

If you know me, you know that I love to travel. When I’m planning a trip, I use multiple sources of data and analytics for my decision making. I might consult TripAdvisor reviews to check out lodging or activities. I can look at restaurant ratings, reviews, and even filter by type of cuisine or meal. I also analyze historical flight price trends to help determine the best time to purchase tickets. I want my travel experience to be the best it can be, so I take advantage of the available data created by others.

We use statistics and analytics every day to make decisions in our lives.

Visualization example: Michigan child support cases by assistance type.

But of course, the statistics we use in the work we do for the children and families in Michigan is far more important than where we stay on a trip. That said, we must continue to improve our access to the information we need to make decisions in the child support program.

Michigan Child Support Uses Agile Approach to Strategic Planning

By Maureen Leif, J.D., President, Grays Peak Strategies 

Partner agencies collaborate in
the Michigan Child Support Program.

Often the mention of strategic planning elicits a nonenthusiastic sigh. It can be difficult to get excited about strategic planning. Typically, a lot of work is done at the executive level, and a plan is developed and rolled out to all levels of the organization for everyone to follow. 

The Michigan Child Support Program[1] (“Program”) wanted to approach its new strategic plan differently and began a process of revamping the plan this year. The Program Leadership Group (PLG) decided that the new plan would be a three-year plan and take the program through 2020. Grays Peak Strategies was hired to help facilitate the process and recommended Agile strategic planning.[2]