Alternative Dispute Resolution Jobs in Michigan (NOW HIRING)

General Summary Under the general direction of the Friend of the Court and direct supervision of the Senior Investigator, conducts investigations and provides recommendations regarding the issues of custody, medical support, domicile, child support, and parenting time regarding pre-judgment and post-judgment cases. Responds to complaints regarding medical support, child support, custody, domicile, and parenting time issues and conducts Alternative Dispute Resolution conferences to assist parents in resolving disputes. Starting pay is dependent on an applicant's relevant experience.

**Applications are accepted until there are sufficient numbers of qualified applications or a qualified candidate is identified. This position could close at any time.** Essential Functions Investigates and evaluates custody and parenting time arrangements for minor children in divorce and paternity actions and prepares reports and recommendations for the Circuit Court. May include interviewing parents, children and others, evaluating how children are accepting divorce, observing interactions between the children and parents and identifying potential problems with custody and parenting time issues, and evaluating the prospective home(s) and general surroundings

Provides informal dispute resolution in custody and parenting time matters pending before the court. Attempts to develop channels of communication between parents to establish a more cooperative working relationship and facilitate restructuring of the family to maximize efforts on working together on behalf of the children. Attempts to educate parents and children on the effects of divorce and the skills necessary to resolve areas of difficulty.

Conducts investigations on requests for change of custody, parenting time or related matters or complaints of the same. May be required to meet with parties, visit homes, inspect day care facilities, visit with school representative and other agencies when evaluating the requests, making recommendations and resolving matters. Initiates enforcement actions upon clients who are not in compliance with the court order, sends notices or prepares statement of facts for the initiation of show cause hearings.

Serves as Alternative Dispute Resolution Facilitator to assist in the resolution of disputes related to custody, domicile, parenting time, and child support. Regularly confers with divorcing parties and others to discuss Friend of the Court procedures and policies, answering questions and discussing issues and complaints related to domestic relations cases. Investigates and makes recommendations on amounts of time non-custodial parents, grandparents or third parties should spend with a child in accordance with the child's best interests.

Provides court testimony regarding findings and recommendations when requested. Arranges for psychological evaluations of parents and children to assist in formulating recommended action. Consults with psychologists or counselors who are working with the family.

Drafts orders, stipulations and other legal documents between the parties regarding matters, of custody, parenting time, support, medical coverage and change of domicile. May conduct financial investigations including the collection of financial data from clients, assisting the completion of financial affidavits, contacting employers and other agencies for client financial information. Analyzes financial data including the review of tax statements, unemployment records, social security information, worker's compensation payments and other financial records necessary in determining a party's gross income.

Utilizes established support guidelines to calculate and recommend child support or changes in the level of support, including medical and other payments. Makes recommendations to the Court regarding alimony. Other Functions: May drive extended distances, including out of county, to conduct investigations.

May also fulfill the job functions of Investigator/Parenting Time Specialist. May conduct meetings in-person and virtually. This list may not be inclusive of the total scope of job functions to be performed.

Duties and responsibilities may be added, deleted or modified at any time. Minimum Qualifications Bachelor's degree in counseling, social work, psychology or related area. One year of casework experience, preferably dealing with family counseling and familiarity with domestic relations law.

To perform Facilitative and Information Gathering Conferences, must have two years of experience as a case worker working with families, or similar work as a court employee or in a related field and must attend in-service training as required by the State Court Administrative Office, including Domestic Relations Training or Friend of the Court Bureau ADR Training and a domestic violence training. Required to complete 8 hours of continuing education every 2 years. The qualifications listed above are intended to represent the minimum skills and experience levels associated with performing the duties and responsibility contained in this job description.

The qualifications should not be viewed as expressing absolute employment or promotional standards, but as general guidelines that should be considered along with other job-related selection or promotional criteria. Physical Requirements/Working Conditions Physical Requirements: [This job requires the ability to perform the essential function contained in this description. These include but are not limited to the following requirements.

Reasonable accommodations will be made for otherwise qualified applicants unable to fulfill one or more of these requirements]: Climbing stairs and otherwise accessing homes and other locations to conduct interviews and gather information. Driving to various sites to conduct interviews. Ability to access office files.

Prolonged sitting and computer use. Working Conditions Works in normal office conditions Exposure to various weather conditions while conducting field work. Regular exposure to individuals in various emotional states who may be verbally abusive or hostile.

Exposure to homes of various states of cleanliness and hygiene.