Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Errors foul up custody payouts

Budget cuts delay computer fixes, says Friend of the Court workers group.

By Gary Heinlein / Detroit News Lansing Bureau

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LANSING -- A statewide computer system designed to assure smooth payment of court-ordered child support is rife with glitches that cause errors and backlogs, the head of a court worker group claims.

"Fixes" in the system have been delayed by budget cuts, leaving a setup that breaks down, contains erroneous information about child support orders and continues problems it was supposed to solve, said Michigan Friend of the Court Association President Jeffrey Albaugh.

He said the problems include thousands of overpayments by those who owe child support; mistaken refunds to those who are in arrears - tens of thousands of dollars in some cases; and $5 million being sent to the state treasury as unclaimed money last year because the system contained "bad" addresses for support recipients or there were distribution errors.

The long-delayed computer network was hooked up statewide in October 2003 to meet a federal deadline and avoid $147 million in federal penalties.

But it "is an operational nightmare in its current state and must be fixed," Albaugh wrote in a letter to Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Clifford Taylor.

More than 900,000 families and 1.5 million children are affected by the Friend of the Court system because they are subject to judge's orders regarding child support, custody and parenting time.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm's office agreed that the new system is imperfect, but said the governor has not neglected the need for improvements. Budget department spokesman Greg Bird said 20 percent of the $56 million budgeted this year and $54 million next year for the computer system is intended for improvements.

You can reach Gary Heinlein at 517-371-3660 or gheinlein@detnews.com.