Evaluation of Michigan Child Support Navigator Pilot

Based on feedback from an advisory council of people with lived experience with the Michigan child support program, the Michigan Office of Child Support (OCS) is piloting a Navigator service model in four counties to test the effectiveness and feasibility of scale-up. OCS has partnered with the Michigan Public Health Institute (MPHI) and Mathematica to support implementation and evaluate the pilot program.

Mathematica is working with OCS and key stakeholders of the Navigator pilot to support program implementation. Mathematica is  developing tools to support recruitment and service delivery. Mathematica staff meet regularly with pilot sites to identify implementation challenges and test strategies for addressing challenges as they arise.

Mathematica will document each sites’ implementation experience including implementation challenges, supports and resources that facilitated implementation, and staff and participant perspectives of the pilot program. The evaluation will assess key programmatic outputs and outcomes of program participants including the frequency of use of navigator services, types of services provided, satisfaction with the pilot program, and changes in participant knowledge, access, and perspectives of child support services. The study will also assess key child support outcomes of program participants including rates of paternity establishment, order establishment and modifications, and payment behavior.