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Written by Julie Vredeveld
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Tuesday, 09 February 2010 |
Dear MACM Members and Friends:
As an organization, we have identified a current issue which has a great impact on the work we do. Many of our members are employed by Friend of the Court in the areas of custody and parenting time. All of us do work in this area because know the value of mediation and other custody and parenting time services to families and particularly to children. In these difficult financial times, most of us have seen reductions in personnel and services to clients. This is at least in part because these positions are not significantly funded under Title IV-D. The Friend of the Court Associations (FOCA), a group comprised of Friends of the Court across the State of Michigan, is pursuing legislation including the following:The statutory definition of allowable activities that may be funded through Title IV-D of the Social Security Act should be expanded to include custody and parenting time activities.According to the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) in July 2009, "There is a growing body of evidence supporting the premise that an NCP who has increased access to his or her child(ren) will be more likely to comply with a support order. This finding is particularly dramatic for fathers who were unmarried to the CP at the time of the child’s birth." The OCSE website, http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/, includes the research findings which support this statement. It appears clear that custody and parenting time services should be funded through Title IV-D. This new legislation is essential in preventing further loss of services. MACM should join with FOCA in contacting both our State Representatives and Senators and U.S. Representatives and Senators to indicate our support for this recommendation. This directly impacts us, and the valuable services we provide to families.
To help you in your efforts, we have included a series of links to help contact you with your legislators. Please take action today.Thank you,Your MACM Board
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Written by Julie Vredeveld
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Friday, 15 January 2010 |
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This year's Michigan Association of Court Mediators (MACM) Advanced Mediation Training Conference will be Wednesday, September 15 through Friday, September 17. Please mark these dates in your calendar, as MACM will be celebrating its 25th Anniversary of providing quality advanced mediation training in 2010. I will follow up soon with more details about the conference, including information on the presenters and special activities to celebrate this impressive milestone.
I hope to see you in September!
Julie
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Written by Katie Dopke
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Friday, 04 December 2009 |
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Another year and another successful conference. It appears the new venue at Crystal Mountain was a big hit. In this economy we are so grateful for everyone's participation. Attendance was up from the past two years. I want to thank everyone for their efforts in putting together a wonderful conference. I hope we all walked away with a new sense of purpose for our jobs and information that will continue to help us in our professional lives. We’ll be at Crystal again in 2010 (September 15th – 17th) to celebrate our 25th Conference. Many exciting things are already in the works and we are looking forward to seeing everyone next year and hopefully even more new faces.
Sincerely,
Katie Dopke
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Written by Administrator
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Saturday, 07 November 2009 |
The MACM Board for 2010 has been elected; President, Julie Vredeveld; Vice President, Trecey Stieb; Secretary, Cara Lemmen;Treasurer, Alan Zoltowski. Rounding out the rest of the board we have Eugenia Patru, Victoria Rupert, Jeffrey Higgs, Dave DiStefano and Kathleen Doan. We are already in preparation for next years conference scheduled for September 15th-17th, 2010 again at the Crystal Mountain Resort and Spa. Stay tuned. (2010 Board Pictured Below)
 The MACM Board also said goodbye to Eliza Callow, who stepped down after being an active Board Member and Treasurer for over a decade. We'll miss you Eliza. Incoming President, Julie Vredeveld (right) thanks Eliza (left) for her dedication and years of service to MACM and its membership. 
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Written by Administrator
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Sunday, 01 November 2009 |
MACM members might be interested in commenting on the proposed changes to the court rule regarding confidentiality of court mediation. Comments should be addressed to Doug Van Epps, Director, Office of Dispute Resolutation, and the Mediation Confidentiality and Standards of Conduct Committee.
http://courts.michigan.gov/scao/dispute/odr.htm
http://courts.michigan.gov/scao/dispute/Draft%20Proposal%20MCR%202.412.pdf
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