|
|
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
|
Don't think of the
opportunities that you have missed in the last
year.
The New Year is an
unwritten book, so choose your actions and words
wisely
and fill it up
with pages that are worth reading by the end of the
year.
~Author
Unknown
January's Quote of
the Month Winner
Chief Judge Robert
J. Colombo, Jr. & Wilda Motley-Penn
Forensic Family
Therapist - Clinic for Child Study
Ms. Motley-Penn has
been employed with the Court for 12 years.
|
|
|
Celebrating the New Wayne County Friend of the Court
Office Space
The
Wayne County Friend of the Court opened its long-awaited
new office space on January 3, 2017. The Friend of the
Court offices will remain in the historic Penobscot
Building but will enjoy newly refurbished office space on
the first, tenth, eleventh and twelfth floors of the
building.
Hon. Kathleen M.
McCarthy, Presiding Judge of the Family Division, was
pleased to announce the completion of the project:
"This project was
started in an effort to better serve the families of
Wayne County with improved security; convenient payment
offices on the first floor; state-of-the-art electronics
throughout the building, and an improved space design to
allow streamlining workflow and case flow practices.
I would like to thank the consortium of Wayne
County employees and its commissioners, Chief Judge
Robert J. Colombo, Jr., and Executive Court
Administrator Zenell Brown, as well as Penobscot's
owner Andreas Apostolopoulos and all of our 240 FOC employees
and supervisors that worked so hard to bring this move to
fruition."
Kent Weichmann, Wayne
County Friend of the Court, agreed. "We have been waiting
a long time for this move. I think it will
significantly improve Court services at the Friend of the
Court, as well as significantly improve working
conditions for our staff."
The main entrance for
the offices are now located off the Fort Street entrance
at the Penobscot Building. The customer service window
and genetic testing area are located on the first
floor. The referee hearing rooms and two judges'
courtrooms are located on the tenth and eleventh
floors. Visitors to the Friend of the Court offices
should use the "D Bank" of elevators to access the new
space.
More information can
be found on our website at www.3rdcc.org, or by calling
our Customer Service Call Center at our new number
1-877-543-2660.
|
 |
|
Director of Criminal Court Services
|
As Chief
Judge, I am pleased to announce that effective
January 3, 2017 Tamela Aikens assumed the position
of as the
Director of Criminal Court Services. In this role,
she will lead the divisions of Pretrial Services, Trial
Court Services and the Specialty Courts.
Prior to joining the
Third Circuit Court, Tamela was the Director of
Community Corrections for Wayne County where she was
responsible for the development, implementation, and
management of the County's Annual Community Corrections
Comprehensive Plan and Application funded by the Michigan
Department of Corrections. She served as the liaison across several
community justice stakeholders and law enforcement
agencies, and she recently completed the County's
successful application to attend the National Stepping Up
Summit.
Before serving the
County, Tamela was the Community Manager
for the Michigan
Prisoner Reentry Initiative (MPRI) in Wayne County and
was responsible for serving as the liaison between all
vested public and private stakeholders and the Michigan
Department of Corrections to ensure effective
communication and proficient systems building throughout
the county. In this role, she managed over $8
million in contract services designed specifically to
meet the housing, transportation, employment, and
re-integration needs of former prisoners returning to
Wayne County.
Tamela earned a
Masters of Economics from Walsh College, and obtained a
Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Eastern
Michigan University. She is the past Secretary of
the Michigan Association of Community Corrections
Advisory Boards, a former member of the Board of
Directors of the Michigan Council on Crime and
Delinquency, and a graduate of the FBI Michigan Citizens'
Academy, where she served as the Secretary of its Alumni
Association.
Please join me
and congratulate Tamela on this new endeavor.
|
|
|
Greetings,
Happy New
Year! We welcome the Third Circuit Court staff
back from the holiday break. We hope you enjoyed the
holiday season, and we are grateful for all of your
hard work and contributions. We welcome our four new
judges: Hon. Wanda Evans, Hon. Melissa Cox, Hon.
Thomas Hathaway, and Hon. Kelly A. Ramsey. We
acknowledge your willingness and commitment to
serve. We have a lot of work to do in
2017. We expect to have more than 65,000 cases
filed in 2017, more technology upgrades as the State
moves forward on a statewide eFiling project, and an
increasing need to collaborate with more with court
partners and stakeholders as we address the needs of
the public. We look forward to doing an
outstanding job over the next 12 months, and
appreciate the individual and collective of all who
will make that possible.
|
|
|
Changes Are
Coming!
What to
Expect in the 2017 Michigan Child Support
Formula
The Michigan
Child Support Formula Manual (MCSF) changes will take
effect January 1, 2017.
Change can be
hard, but it does not need to be. While economics
have been updated (for example, ordinary medical is
increasing to $403 for one child), there are other
substantive changes as well. To help prepare
for the new Manual, SCAO is posting the 2017 MCSF to
its website in October. The Manual can be found
at: http://courts.mi.gov/mcsf.
The following are some of the major changes:
High
income: The 2017 MCSF removes the
"magnitude of income deviation factor" and gives the
court the authority to use its discretion in
extremely high income cases. What is an extremely
high income case is left open for interpretation, but
is expected to be at least several times above the
highest amount in the general care tables. In
exercising discretion, the court must first ensure
that the child's needs are met and may calculate
amounts using other marginal percentages, or
fashioning an outcome that financially benefits the
children while protecting each child's interests in
the inherent obligation each parent owes.
Administrative
Cost Deviation Factor: The 2017 MCSF allows for a
deviation if the amount of the order does not exceed
$15 and the administrative cost to enforce an order
is too burdensome. This is not a new "minimum order."
Rather, this is focused on the cost-benefit of
establishing and enforcing an order. This must be
done on a case-by-case basis as there may be cases
with an order below $15, but enforcement is low and
it is proper to maintain the order.
Retirement
Contributions: There are two changes here.
First, employer contributions to a person's
retirement plan will not be counted as income,
because that money is not available from which to pay
support. If the individual were to access the account
and draw down on it, then the funds would be
considered income. The second change is removing the
5.5% deduction for voluntary contributions. Because
the person is choosing how to spend the money, this
is money from which support could be paid. Now, the
only retirement contribution that can be deducted is
if it is mandatory as a condition of
employment.
Imputing
Income: The 2017 MCSF will help
clarify when imputing may be used. Most importantly,
the 2017 MCSF adds additional considerations to the
factors. Factor (f) will include looking at the
number of hours of available work. Factor (i) will
include the requirement to look at criminal record,
ability to drive, and ability to access
transportation. There is also an increased emphasis
on the requirement to look at each of the factors
when determining ability to pay and whether to
impute. The 2017 MCSF also adds a section to provide
examples of when it is improper to impute
income.
Mandatory
Health Care Self-Coverage Deduction:
Due to the
requirement under federal law that each person must
have health care coverage or face a fine, the 2017
MCSF allows for a deduction of the net actual cost of
providing such coverage. This deduction is calculated
by figuring the actual net health care cost to the
parent [parent-paid premiums minus any
reimbursements, subsidies, or credits] and dividing
by the number of individuals covered (including the
parent). This deduction applies to premiums for
coverage whether the plan was purchased through an
employer benefit program, privately, or an
exchange.
Parental Time
Offset: The 2017 MCSF changes the
parental time offset to a factor of 2.5. This was
done to address concerns that the former approach may
not have adequately balanced the support recipient's
overall costs with the support payer's costs for
moderate amounts of parenting time. Additionally, a
new parental time offset section was added to the
MCSF Supplement as explanatory material.
Employer
Reimbursements: The manual was clarified to
plainly express that employer reimbursement for an
employee's tuition, educational costs, health savings
accounts, and uniforms are not income. If a reported
income figure, such as an earnings statement,
includes educational or uniform reimbursements,
subtract those amounts from the income used to
calculate child support. However, travel
reimbursement that exceeds actual costs is
income.
Medical
Expenses: There is a change in
terminology to provide clarification. What has been
called "extraordinary" is now "additional
(extra-ordinary)." There is also a change to the
minimum enforcement threshold. The "minimum
enforcement threshold" for enforcing additional
medical expenses are $100 per child each calendar
year, or a lower amount if set by the local court. If
unreimbursed additional expenses do not exceed the
threshold before a year ends, lesser expenses may be
submitted to the FOC for enforcement before the
deadline.
Finally, there are
two rare scenarios where the court may treat all
medical expenses as additional (extra-ordinary). One
scenario is when both parents routinely take children
for medical care and incur somewhat equal expenses.
The other instance is when the support payer is the
parent who will incur most of the out-of-pocket
medical costs for the children and the recipient
spends little on the children's care.
These are just
some of the major changes and clarifications coming
with the 2017 MCSF. The full manual will be posted in
October, and there are numerous trainings available
in the upcoming months, including two sessions at the
MCSF Conference at Boyne. If you have any questions
about the 2017 MCSF, please contact Paul Gehm or Bill Bartels at
517-373-4835.
Authors - Bill Bartels and Paul Gehm
|
|
New Wayne
County Friend of the Court Phone Number
The Wayne County
Friend of the Court has a new phone number due to
improvements in technology at the state level.
The new phone
number is: 1-877-543-2660. Please update
your information accordingly.
The old number,
313-224-5300, will continue to be used for some time
to allow customers a chance to adjust to the new
phone number. However, that number will
eventually be phased out.
The Wayne County
Friend of the Court is constantly making upgrades to
technology and resources in an effort to better
assist the community.
|
|
The Wayne
County Friend of the Court
Outreach Initiatives
Walk-In
Friend of the Court Assistance
Receive
information and ask child support professionals
questions
regarding
your Friend of the Court issues at the following
locations:
UAW
Region 1A Local 174
Rory L.
Gamble, Regional Director
15140
Livernois, Detroit, MI 48238
(313)
864-7878
Held Every
1st & 3rd Friday of the
Month
9:00 a.m.
to 3:00 p.m.
ACCESS
Arab
Community Center for Economic & Social
Services
6450 Maple
Street, Dearborn, MI 48126
(313)
216-2200
Held Every
2nd Friday of the Month
9:00 a.m.
to 3:00 p.m.
The
Resource Network
11816 Jos
Campau, Hamtramck, MI 48212
(313)
365-3700
Held Every
3rd Tuesday of the Month
10:00 a.m.
to 3:00 p.m.
Focus:
HOPE
1200 Oakman
Boulevard, Detroit, MI 48238
(313)
494-4300
Held Every
4th Wednesday of the Month
9:00 a.m.
to 3:00 p.m.
Wayne
County Child Support Help Program
Detroit
Public Library
5201
Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI 48202
1-877-543-2660
Saturday,
April 8, 2017
1:00 p.m. -
4:00 p.m.
Any updates
to the schedule or location of these events will be
posted at www.3rdcc.org
or parties
may contact the Friend of the Court Call Center at
1-877-543-2660
|
The
Wayne County Friend of the Court
Legal
Partner Programs
The
William Booth Legal Aid Clinic
Coleman
A. Young Municipal Center
Two
Woodward Avenue, 19th floor, Room
1901, Detroit, Michigan 48226
Default Judgment of Divorce
Clinic
Held
Every 1stThursday
of the Month
Doors
open at 10:00 a.m. Parties must arrive by 11:30
a.m.
Attorneys
from the Clinic help qualifying, low income,
self-represented parties prepare all necessary
court documents for Default Judgment of Divorce.
Parties must bring valid photo Identification,
all documents related to the case; including the
Complaint for Divorce, Friend of the Court Final
Recommendation (DM only), and Fee Waiver (if
applicable).
Legal Aid Clinic
Held
Every 2nd & 3rd
Thursday of the Month
12:00
p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Free
help with divorce and Friend of the Court
issues. Attorneys available to help
qualifying low income
self-represented
parties prepare motion packets and forms.
Please arrive early. First come, first
served.
The
Wayne County Legal Resources
Consortium
Penobscot
Building - SMART Detroit 13th
Floor
645
Griswold, Detroit, MI 48226
(313)
961-6120 ext. 210
Jan.
26, Feb. 23, Mar. 23, Apr. 27, May 25, Jun. 22,
Jul. 27, Aug. 24, Sep. 28, Oct. 26, Nov. 30,
Dec. 21, 2017
12:00
p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Local
attorneys and support staff available to
provide information and legal advice.
Michigan
Legal Help Self-Help Centers
Wayne County
Penobscot
Building - Room 1145, 11th
Floor
645
Griswold, Suite 1300, Detroit, MI 48226
Monday
through Thursday
9:00
a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Southwest Detroit
Family
Alliance for Change (Spanish/English)
3627 W.
Vernor, Detroit, MI 48216
Mondays
and Wednesdays
9:00
a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Self-Help
Center staff are available to help you navigate
this website which provides forms,
instructions, and information you may use to
assist you with your legal issues. This
is a free resource for area residents who need
to represent themselves in simple civil legal
matters. The staff cannot provide legal
advice.
|
Visit our JOB POSTINGS link on our website
to learn about our available public service
careers.
|
|
Join our E-mail List and receive our monthly
E-mail newsletter from the Third Judicial
Circuit Court and stay informed.
Please send us your name and email address to
-
3cce-news@3rdcc.org
|
|
|
|
|
