Lary Holland: Official Blog, Links, and Resources

Does the Open Meetings Act Apply to the Child Support Leadership Council (CSLC) and the Friend of the Court Bureau Advisory Committee?

The Child Support Leadership Council (CSLC) and the Friend of the Court Bureau Advisory Committee (FOCBAC) do not follow the provisions of the Open Meetings Act (OMA). Unlike the Open Records from which the judiciary is excluded, the Open Meetings Act contemplates the inclusion of the judicial branch as a public body. We know for a fact from the minutes of the FOCBAC that the CASPER meetings were held in private before the quarterly FOCBAC meetings; that proposed minutes and approved minutes of FOCBAC meetings are not made available in compliance with the OMA; that some of our members have been excluded from CSLC deliberations that should have been public; and that there is a hostile and uncooperative attitude towards input from members of the public.

Lets put it to the task...

I and others made requests for the CASPER report which would have been included under the Open Records and Freedom of Information Act request before it was finally published on the SCAO website. The report was first indicated in the June 22, 2006 "Approved Minutes" of FOCBAC.

Child Support Program Review Committee (CASPER)

Mr. Capps informed the Advisory Committee about CASPER, which is an ad hoc
committee that examines the system to determine if there are ways of finding
increases in revenues or streamlining the system to the whole child support
program to make recommendations to the Program Leadership Group (PLG). The
Committee has nine people, (two from SCAO, two from OCS, one from DIT, and
two from PAAM) and meets every two weeks at the Hall of Justice.

As many people can see the Child Support Program attempts to operate in the dark with little public input because they know there are significant numbers of people that are now against the operation of the program as a free for all welfare program that is plagued with overparticipation (over half of which are middle and upper class feuding families) in an effort to drive up collection numbers and participation numbers to drown out the failures it has with the needy population. Successful collections mostly come from income witholding orders as opposed to shifting income to means tested welfare recipients.

At some point we will have to ask the question, why lift up one population at taxpayer expense when it just creates the same problem in the contributing class? The only difference is that there is now a bunch of bureacratic parasites that benefit, not society.

Associated Content Exclusive: How to Flush the Friend of the Court Out of Your Life!

Associated Content recently published my exclusive "How to Flush the Friend of the Court Out of Your Life" which compiled information regarding opting out of the friend of the court welfare child support collection services program that many people are forced to participate in at taxpayer expense. The piece is not exhaustive, but focuses on the most common procedure and what to do if the judges and friend of the court don't allow you out of the free for all welfare program. The program originally was intended for the needy in Michigan, but then the program was expanded to focus on revenue generation, by drawing more federal title iv-d grant money into the program, and now functions mostly as a collection service for middle and upper-income feuding families. Instead of serving the needy, the program now serves mostly the greedy and drowns out the voices of the minority lower-income families.

If you would like to produce content for Associated Content you can click HERE and sign-up to also become a content producer. I am looking forward to reading your material. Be sure to visit the links above to read the complete story. You can print and circulate the story to friends, family, and co-workers because this wasteful program affects everyone. Associated Content redistributes content to print, online, and other media sources throughout the nation.

Lary Holland at the Flint Gear Grinders' Car Show in Fenton, MI. The event was at Mo Doggies Bar and Grill with over 45 participating cars in the event.

Representative Brenda Clack, in the Michigan House of Representatives, is currently holding up House Bill 4564, Michigan's Presumption of Equal Custody Bill, that creates a presumption that both parents should be involved a substantially equal amount of time in their children's lives as long as the same school schedule can be maintained.

Michigan House Bill 4564 is the right thing for parents, children, and taxpayers. Stop the government waste on programs that can be eliminated when there are two fit parents involved in their own children's lives. It takes a family to raise a child, not a community. Urge Representative to stop hold our children and Michigan House Bill 4564 hostage.

For more information about House Bill 4564 feel free to email me at laryholland@sbcglobal.net or visit http://www.squidoo.com/hb4564, created by Robert Pedersen. 

Mo Doggies Bar and Grill hosted the Flint Gear Grinders Car Show in Fenton, MI. Equal Parenting information was distributed throughout the event and over the PA System.

Thanks to the Flint Gear Grinders, Mo Doggies, and all of the sponsors that made this event possible for area parents, children, and the community.

How many people have been threatened by Friend of the Court personnel to pay up or be prepared for criminal prosecution?

Has the Friend of the Court attempted to extort money from you? It's illegal and here is the start of what you need to know!

Some people have complained that Friend of the Court employees often have threatened criminal prosecution, referral, or conviction against them if they don't immediately come up with a payment. In Michigan, and according to both State Law and State Court Administrator Memorandum, it is a felony for anyone to extort money from you.

MCL 750.213 reads: Sec. 213. Any person who shall, either orally or by a written or printed communication, maliciously threaten to accuse another of any crime or offense, or shall orally or by any written or printed communication maliciously threaten any injury to the person or property or mother, father, husband, wife or child of another with intent thereby to extort money or any pecuniary advantage whatever, or with intent to compel the person so threatened to do or refrain from doing any act against his will, shall be guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not more than 20 years or by a fine of not more than $10,000 dollars.

Now, I'm certainly not a lawyer, and this isn't really any legal advice, but since alot of people are complaining about this subject, let's write a grievance together. Writing a grievance is FREE, and I will help you write it. I will also pay for the postage stamp to make sure it gets to the right place. In fact, if you think that the Friend of the Court is attempting to commit the above FELONY we can even send a copy of the grievance and their response to the Prosecuting Attorney's Office for your County. If they refuse to investigate, no big deal because there are ways to ensure an investigation occurs. Let's help make this system work for the needy instead of the greedy. It begins with writing grievances and making sure that your government knows that their funding schemes are transparent, and you are tired of taxpayer waste. We have alot of work to do, so let's get working on it!

Justice is coming. Lary Holland is working with residents all over Michigan to ensure that grievances are filed against the Friend of the Court offices statewide.

Don't just complain about the Friend of the Court's incompetence, write a grievance! Not sure how to do it? Send me your issues and I will write them for you. FREE OF CHARGE! It's fun, It's free, and THEY MUST RESPOND within 30 days. Chances are you will get faster responses from the FOC office with a grievance than you will with a telephone call. Make all of your complaints in writing!

"MCL 552.526(2) requires that each friend of the court office submit a record of grievances to the Friend of the Court Bureau. Grievance reports for the first half of 2007 must be completed and sent to the Friend of the Court Bureau by July 17, 2007," according to the State Court Administrator's Mailing List and linked memo.

More to come on the subject of grievances and thanks to those that have already requested help!  I will be preparing a workshop for the second half of the year to make it that much easier to file your grievances.

"To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right."

Yet another Child Support Worker that has been arrested on criminal charges. Evidence is mounting of taxpayer waste, fraud, and criminal activity regarding the Title IV Part D Child Support Program.

"ORLANDO, Fla. -- A former employee of the Department of Revenue's Child Support Enforcement program was arrested Thursday on bribery charges." (Local6.Com "Child Support Worker Arrested In Bribery Scheme" March 8, 2007)

In the many States, Child Support Workers are funded through Title IV Part D of the Social Security Act if the State programs voluntarily comply with federal mandates on how to operate. In the beginning a program to help needy families, it has now turned into a free for all welfare spending program where the States focus on revenue generation instead of helping actual needy families.

Just last month another Child Support Worker embezzled a quarter of a million dollars in Child Support Enforcement money in California. See prior article.

Evidence is mounting against the Title IV-D Program, often coined "Child Support Enforcement," demonstrating several unintended outcomes, widespread abuse of authority, widespread taxpayer fraud, and widespread over-participation of middle and upper-class families in the programs.

You can see a video regarding the current story case at: http://www.local6.com/news/11203825/detail.html

It's time to reign in free for all welfare spending where over 45% of the participants in the Title IV-D welfare program are middle to upper-class families that should be paying for their own disputes not feuding on tax payer money. Shrink back the program for its intended beneficiaries and shave off nearly 30,000 government employees nationwide to help control taxpayer waste, fraud, and government sponsored criminal activity.

Susan Borovich, FOC Director or Slave Trader?

Susan Borovich, Director of the St. Clair County Friend of the Court, wants to make you think that she is helping fathers by promoting a program that forces specific performance under a court order as a result of an accruing debt, or risk sitting in jail. Other Michigan programs abridge similar individual liberties by forcing you to use government programs like Michigan Works for a number of hours per week or else you go to jail if you are unemployed and cannot cure arrearages on debt.

Although I appreciate the fact that Ms. Borovich acknowledged a few good points that have been made by people trapped by the Title IV-D Welfare system for years, the reality is that this government employee is still promoting the slave trade and Michigan is still abridging protected liberties by its operation of the Title IV-D Welfare program, through the judicial agency known as the Friend of the Court.

Ms. Borovich states: "The truth is that, more often than not, a parent who has fallen behind in support payments is not a "deadbeat" - he or she is simply "dead broke." Her answer is to force individuals into government programs, without pay, or risk sitting in a jail cell for their inability to keep up with debt that by Ms. Borovich's own admission is more often than not due to an individual being "dead broke."

Ms. Borovich then turns around and promotes the St. Clair Jail Alternative Program that: "direct non-paying parents toward jobs and the ability to pay regular child support." People are forced to either work for free for the County and participate in Michigan Works without compensation or risk sitting in jail and further abusive legal proceedings in the Family Court system, by the Court's own employee known as the "Friend of the Court."

For those of you unfamiliar with the Constitution, the document that restricts governmental powers, there was an Amendment that completed Ratification on December 6, 1865. Under US Const. Amendment 13 Sec. 1 "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." Either Michigan isn't part of the United States, or Michigan and other states are trying to take more authority than what they actually have.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in United States v. Kozminski (1988), has defined involuntary servitude as "compulsory service by the use of physical restraint or injury, or by the use or threat of coercion through legal process." Essentially the Jail Alternative Program in St. Clair County, as well as the many court orders forcing individuals to participate in government welfare programs without compensation because there exists a civil debt or other civil judgment, is nothing more than a return to the slave trade and indentured servitude that was outlawed just a mere 142 years ago.

Previous Story:

• Meet Susan Borovich: St. Clair County's Slave Master
• Deadbeat is Wrong Term For Parents Behind on Child Aid (Sidenote is that this article attempts to change the perception that Support Orders are solely to "Aid" children which is simply more government propaganda, if that was the case all support orders would be equal without variation on incomes.)

Continue reading "Susan Borovich Responds: Still Promoting the..." »

A guest column was written today for Michigan Democrat.Net:

"Jennifer Granholm, Michigan's Democrat Governor, has a plan, to take more of your money. Her plan is not to cut government employees like Chrysler's estimated 13,000 cuts to stay solvent, but rather just to tax you more. If business operated the way our government does, there wouldn't be a single one left because customers wouldn't want to pay the high product costs or the high employee salaries. Michigan's government employees certainly aren't the ones on government food assistance, in fact, they are probably eating pretty well these days."

Holland calls for about a 50% reduction in Friend of the Court staffing and a change in focus of the organization from state revenue generation back to aid for needy families. You can read the whole article at the Michigan Democrat site.

Welcome to our welfare state, where the already self-affluent are shoved into Michigan's Friend of the Court system at tax payer expense while our poor are being underserved. Michigan's Friend of the Court is funded from Title IV-D Welfare through Federal block grant funding under the Social Security Act. Currently the program is focused on revenue generation for the State's growing beauracracy at the expense of tax payers AND to the disadvantage of people that really need the program. One thing is for sure, the Friend of the Court employees are geting fatter!

Welcome to Michigan, our Welfare State. Our growing number of government employees seem to be eating alright.

The Detroit News released yesterday that 1 in 9 residents are now on government assistance and the cost for providing the services is rising too. This doesn't include the massive influx of people that have been forced onto Title IV-D welfare, commonly disguised as Friend of the Court Services or "Child Support Enforcement" services that was originally intended to offset these expenses. Right now about 45% of the caseload in the FOC offices are already self-sufficient families receiving benefits while the people that really need the program are paid little attention to. The program has shifted to State revenue generation instead of Aid to Needy Families

Lets shift the programs back to Aid for Needy Families where there are actual restrictions on participation and taxpayer protections against government waste. Streamlining operations is good for families, taxpayers, and most of children.