The Holland Sentinel reports that Michigan’s new child support system won’t be getting better any time soon (excerpt):
A $459 million computer system meant to streamline child-support payments and enforcement under one umbrella is so riddled with problems it could be years before it works effectively, state leaders say.
In some cases, parents who pay support are getting notices that they haven’t paid and the money is not reaching the people who need it, families say.
Officials concede Michigan’s Child Support Enforcement System was rushed to completion, creating a high-maintenance program with glitches that could take months to fix.
I know this first hand. Where can we get some help?
The new system that Michigan has in place for child support is a joke. It only works to the favor of the state and serves only to tick off the people that suppport it, the people that pay into the child support system. It can’t even handle simple tasks given by the local friend of the court, ie: I was in arrears $1600.00 they took 1600.00 out of my tax return, and in the meanwhile they also took out of my check an additional 300.00. The 1600.00 cleared and simple math tells you that 300.00 was overpaid, but the state decided they would put a hold on it, why? It’s my money and the arrears were paid off and my case was done, why hold my money? Because the stupid system couldn’t handle the overpayment? Or they wanted to make some extra money for the state on interest?
The computer thing is stupid! Why did the state pay so much Money for it? And what do those women all do at the FOC to get paid because they won’t answer my questions anymore they tell me to call th MISDU. There I don’t always get answers either. Sometimes it takes a week to get a check and other a day: so I can never really count on a check being here on a certain day of the week!
We live in Germany, my husband is american and I`m german. He paid childsupport through a german office who was put in charge of the matter and sent the money to a friend of the court in Michigan. The child was born 3 years before we met and turned 18 in 1997. He kept on paying until 2001 when he got a letter from the german office in which said his arrears were paid up. He needed a knew passport the beginning of this year and went to the american consulate here in Germany, but was denied a passport because of backsupport arrears. After he called the friend of the court, he found out that it`s in amount of almost 10 000.- Dollars. They told us to send checks to the MISDU, but after reading all these things about how unsafe it is, we are really worried about sending checks and then still owing the same amount. He does not get his passport back until the problem is solved and he could get problems now with german authorities for not having a passport. He`s been living and working here for almost 20 years and we have no intentions of moving to the states. Here people who pay child support pay it to the youth department either cash or with automatic bank transferres. We can not understand why automatic bank transferres are practically unknown by the FOC and the MISDU. It`s the safes thing there is. He tried to call the FOC but can never get his case worker or anybody else on the phone,
it`s always only an answering machine and they do not call back. The woman who puts the calls through to the case
worker knows practicely nothing. The only solution we have at this point is me flying over there and paying the money at the FOC directly, but there they only take cash. And I am worried about traveling half way across the world with that much cash. Plus there is a warrant for his arrest in Michigan which has to be removed before I can pay it at the FOC personelly. We`ve written so many letters even to the congress men, nobody seems to care but us. I`ve never heard of a more messed up system.
Friend of the Court of Michigan is no friend of anyone… except for the rude “caseworkers” that sit on their butts all day and collect the government dollar.
For 18 years, well after my children were too old to receive support, the dedicated government workers avoided contacting my out-of-state ex-husband, claiming that they could not locate him. The funny thing is, I have spent my time and my dollars tracking him down for 18 years while providing them with his home address, business address, and all phone numbers.
After being treated like a second class citizen, once again, this week by the almighty FOC, I conveniently pointed out a great website to them- whitepages.com. And what do you know? I found my ex’s name, address, and phone number! I also got it personally from him last year so I know this is the accurate one. I also provided it to FOC. They claimed they never got it from me. Well, I will being doing it one more time in a letter that will be cc’d to the Governor and Attorney General. If this is not good enough, I will rent a billboard and call the television stations.
why dont u just raise your kids and be happy like we did in the old days… getting money for children is nothing more than being a ” kiddie farmer”.. to be truthful this isa good lesson for know your partner and your responsiblities before having children and we wouldnt have so many kids running around on welfafre and thru the friend of the court system, how about the parents ( especially the collectors ) actually taking on some responsibility themselves instead of blaming the other parents and charging them for it.. to be honest child support should only be issued in extreme cases of abuse or neglect by a parent.. what man or woman has the right to say ” u should pay me for my having a child” I thought children were a gift f from god to be enjoyed.. then why do we throw the other half of parent hood in jail and call them deadbeats when they have the inalienable right to have a life too. the truth is for the most part we know the courts side with the mom and by doing so have placed the mothers with a sense of control over a man instead of holding the men accountable youve made them submissive and taken away their authority in the childs life. Why has our government overstepped so far like this. if I were to cause this kind of upheaval in my exes life in front of my children they would call it madness and say how bad it looks in front of my kids, and yet they have taken me to jail three times with my kids standing here in the house not evven realizing that i am the one raising them. the courts keep me down by violating me with warrants while i sit at home with a disease that makes me too ill to keep steady work. at the same time the person calling on me every month sits at home with new cars and takes 5000 dollar vacations and my parents have had to foot the bill for my child support to keep me out of jail, whats worse is that friend of the court has my medical records on file and has never once acknowledged the fact i have crohns disease and cannot keep steady work. the funny thing is that the person pressinbg this issue against me is also a healthcare worker in a nursing home , wouldnt u think she would know what crohns disease is ? the truth is we say there are no debtors prisons here but in fact if u go to jail now u get charged room and board to the tune of 1200 a month… so anyone caught in child support spending time in jail only means a larger bill at the end plus room and board… how is this legal to violate a parent like this and call it for the betterment of the children ? did my kids call them last week and say ” heyyyy arrest my dad he is a deadbeat ” ?? why is it that we have given all this power to women and none to the men. when we do this we take away their responsibilities. they should have the same responsibilities as they have rights.. women marched for their rights for years and thats great, but who decided that their right should also be the right to destroy and alter others lives based on their desire to have children .
how has it gottten so out of control that our children are actually taking the brunt of it all.. to tell the truth all we have done is afford women the right to be swanky and arrogant and non responsible for the outcome of sexual relations in the form of having children. because if they have kids and it doesnt work out, as long as they have chosen a mate with a job they can still have their second income, even without a second input. heck that sounds pretty good to me. I take the money i take the kids and i have the say, easier to deal with my own selfish needs that way instead of learning the true meaning of the word responsibility, which includes getting along with others. In fact if i remeber correctly in my history books this is exactly why the mayflower and pinto and santa maria sailed here. this is not much different from the debtors prisons that were over there. where do we draw the line? when do we say enuff is enuff ?? im saying that i know several women who have raised their children without a mans money. i am saying that it seems much healthier for the child to not be involved in constant litigation. I am saying that we needa change. lets hold the ALLLL parents responsible for their actions in bed, not just typically the fathers. the women are the ones having kids, try addressing the source . Isnt that what all intelligent people or organizations do ? wouldnt it seem more logical to have more resonsibility placed on the collectors ? if u want to earn that money turn in a time card like everyone else proving that youve done your work, instead of letting dads like me do the work cuz we love our kids no matter what and yet still throw them in jail four days after they get out of hospital for non payment ( bills in hand at foc window). dont u think its time we adjust our mentality ? this system doesnt work and never will correctly either cuz we have no business telling families how to live. family incomes go up and down. friend of the courts system is based on past incomes. How can that be feasable ? for me to pay by what i earned in the past ? how can anyone say i can or cannot earn that much ? who is it that knows so much about me that they can throw me in jail for not being ableto make that much ? the judge doesnt come to church with me and my children… this system is not only ridiculous, but also in violation of my rights as a father. I should have the inalienable right to joint access to my kids just as i have taken more than half of my share of the responsibilites. To all people complaining about non payment. shut your mouths and live your live ! until your on the other end of the payment plan you should be quiet and just do the best u can. unless youve been taken to jail for this, you cannot posibly know what its like. when u chose to have these kids you accepted full well that this was a responsibility and were taking a risk of having your mate leave u. thats life. instead of charging them for the error of your own choice how about bucking up and just doing the job u set out to do in the first place. when a woman wants a kid she gets it . a man is not afforded that same opportunity so it seems logical doesnt it to tighten up the responsibility level of the mothers FIRST doesnt it ?
I also have a problem with getting my kids father on child support..caseworkers or specialists need all types of information and at the end NOTHING…so why so many letters to discontinue my benefits if on assistance and i do MY part why cant they do theirs???That is why there is so many beat dead dads out there because they know they can get away with it!…I say if we both had fun making kids then theres gotta be an assurance that they will get caught and will help as much as possible and not come up with so many lame EXCUSES!!!!
Michigan FOC and the MiSDU are nothing but a joke! I can get no answers, no information, and no resolution when I call them. My sons so called FATHER has not paid me a dime of support in over a year, and before that I may have gotten 50 dollars every 5 or 6 months, MAYBE. And that was only for about a year. The payments have been sporadic, at best. I do not need his child support, as I take care of my son by myself very easily, so anyone who thinks I had a kid to have a cash cow is dead wrong! Anyhow, this so called dad finally filed his taxes 3 days before the cut off of April 15th. He is married, and worked some in 2009, as did she, but not very much. However, with their baby, they were able to claim EIC and child tax credits, so they got a great refund, despite barely working a quarter of the year combined! Well, since his dad owes over 8 thousand dollars in support, they obviously seized his refund. This is where the problem starts. I found out stupid Michigan (I no longer live in the State) obviously cannot collaborate with the IRS any more than necessary, because if they did, they would know he already filed Injured Spouse when he filed his taxes. MiSDU holds the refund for 6 freaking months, to give them the opportunity to do so! Dont you think if that step has already been taken care of, they would release my money? But nooooooooo! Whats worse, it has already been taken off his arrears! But I am getting the run around. ALL I get told is that “by law” they “must hold the payment for 6 months” OK, really???? I probably would stop complaining and wondering if somebody would tell me 6 months from what? From the day he filed? From the day he got sent his offset letter? From the day HE got HIS REFUND (yes he has already gotten his cash in his hand from his adjusted refund, and I am left to sit and wait and wonder!) And here is the best part- When calling the IVR about payments, it begins to say “On the receipt dated June 28th (about a week after he got his offset letter)….there was NO PAYMENT sent to you”, and the amount of his arrears reads off as 900 dollars off the previous amount, which was the total of his refund!!!! Does anyone on here have any clue as to when I may be getting this money? Thanks!
Bad news for enyone that attempts to do the right thing. The fact is the system is setup to help the deadbeats, dad’s or mom’s. my experience and observations have concluded that it does not matter which is good or bad, the system tends to prolong any conflicts and dragout judgements, rulings, payments, or corrections. Communication, well it is rediculous. I am a dad that has fought from day one of my divorce for shared custody, and won. i now have full leagal and physical custody and have been determined to be disabled by the SSA. I recieved 1/2 of my back pay and our lovely MiSDU garnished the other half $8000.00. No one can tell me where the money is. My ex oes not have it. we were in court last week do to the fact she does not want to pay $19.00 a week to support my 14 year old daughter and my 6 foot 2 inch 17 year old eating machine son. What a joke. If you are a good tax paying parent and you opponent is the opposite; get ready to get screwed. the system is tilted in their favor. It does not care about the children or the sex of the deadbeat, only that you are still able to pay taxes and provided them job security.
Still waiting for a refund of overpayment (Kent County Michigan Friend of the Court). My employers kept taking it out because they hadn’t received notice to terminate withholding. I have tons of money coming back and FOC said that they had sent a check. Months later- still no refund.
I also reported that my daughter had been thrown out of her father’s house halfway through the school year and he was still collecting payments from my wages. In their own way, they said I had to sue him or take it back to court. They refused to even call my daughter’s cell phone or his to confirm. I work and live states away.
It’s a violation of my conscious to know that I supported his alcoholism the last 6 months he collected support. Oh, well. Perhaps his liver damage is the only refreshing benefit of overpayment.