FRIEND OF THE COURT 201 W. Kalamazoo Avenue Kalamazoo, MI 49007

The role of the Friend of the Court's (FOC) office is to enforce court provisions for child support, medical support, custody, parenting time, and spousal support (alimony). The FOC also assists the court with recommendations about these issues. A FOC Handbook is provided to help people understand the responsibilities, policies and procedures. The departments within FOC are shown below:

Accounting Services - Enters all court ordered financial obligation information into MiCSES (Michigan Child Support Enforcement System). Insures charges, payments and credits are appropriate for each case. Responds to inquiries. Performs all case audits. Works with the Michigan Department of Human Services (DHS) to properly identify/record families that are receiving assistance.

Customer Services - Provides customer service at the information counter area and appointment check-in system. Receives the FOC copy of court orders and opens the FOC case files; enters the case information on MiCSES; passes the new case files to Accounting Services. Receives phone calls, mail, email and faxes and directs them to the appropriate departments. Maintains the case file system through the life of the court order(s).

Enforcement Officers - Monitors cases for compliance with court orders, and employs different enforcement remedies as appropriate. Discusses case status with litigants and meets with litigants as ordered by the court. Meets with litigants prior to show cause hearings and in response to bench warrants issued. Monitors all system reminders and updates per case.

Family Counseling -Coordinates counseling services for resolution of parenting issues. Helps to identify custody and parenting time options for families. Enforces court's orders regarding custody and parenting time. Provides mediation services in custody and parenting time matters. Coordinates evaluation services in cases in which evaluations have been court ordered.

Legal Services - Insures that Income Withholding Orders are issued to employers. Refers any non-custodial parent to employment programs as needed. Attends court hearings to record FOC court information. Issues and cancels bench warrants as instructed by the Enforcement Officers. Processes all legal paperwork required by law.

Medical Enforcement Officer - Monitors cases for compliance of medical support for children. Ensures that required medical information and medical cards are supplied to custodial parent. Works with non-custodial parent and custodial parent to answer medical questions. Works with employers to enforce court orders.

Payment Services - Maintains a cashier window for receipt of cash and certified check payments for child support. Works with Michigan Disbursement Unit (MiSDU) in Lansing to correct any discrepancies in allocation of support payments; identifies, allocates and releases money on hold. Answers customer's payment and distribution questions. Processes suspense payments, including tax intercept payments.

Support Modification - Reviews all incoming requests for support modification to determine if case is eligible. Processes all MiCSES initiated requests. Gathers all financial information from non-custodial parent and custodial parents. Determines a support recommendation based upon the child support formula. Notifies parents of outcome; recommends new child support amount to court.