Steven D. Capps Trains New FOC Employees on "Customer Service" While Tom Boyd Claims No Authority Over 100% Grievance Denial Rate
SCAO Director Steven D. Capps hosted a training webinar teaching new FOC employees about customer service and the purpose of the Friend of the Court. His boss, State Court Administrator Tom Boyd, told the press that SCAO has no legal authority over the grievance process that has denied 100% of parent complaints in Kalamazoo County for five years.
The State Trains Every FOC Employee. Then Says It Has No Authority Over What They Do.
LANSING - The Michigan Supreme Court's administrative office runs the training program for every new Friend of the Court employee in the state. It designs the curriculum. It selects the instructors. It teaches new hires "the purpose and meaning of the office of the friend of the court."
Then, when families file grievances against those same employees and every single complaint is denied, the same office says it has "no legal authority" to do anything about it.
The training program is run by Steven D. Capps, Director of the Friend of the Court Bureau at the State Court Administrative Office (SCAO). His boss is State Court Administrator Tom Boyd, who oversees SCAO on behalf of the Michigan Supreme Court.
Together, they control the training pipeline that produces every new FOC worker in Michigan. But when those workers fail families, both men point to a system they claim is beyond their reach.
Capps Teaches "Customer Service" While Families Get Zero Service
On February 26, 2026, Capps and eight other SCAO professionals hosted a full-day webinar for new FOC employees with two years or less of experience. The event was organized by the Michigan Judicial Institute (MJI) in collaboration with Capps' Friend of the Court Bureau (FOCB). The webinar was delivered via Zoom and ran from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. - a full day of instruction for FOC staff with two years or less of experience.
The agenda included:
- Functions of the Friend of the Court Office
- Custody and Parenting Time
- Child Support Formula
- Customer Service and Practical Tips
- Engagement Services
The stated goal: by the end of the training, participants would understand "the purpose and meaning of the office of the friend of the court."
The full roster of speakers, all employees of the Friend of the Court Bureau (FOCB) under SCAO and the Michigan Supreme Court (MSC):
- Steven D. Capps, Director, FOCB, SCAO, MSC
- Jamie Eichenberg, Court Analyst, FOCB, SCAO, MSC
- Paul Gehm, Management Analyst, FOCB, SCAO, MJI
- Lisa Harris, Management Assistant, FOCB, SCAO, MSC
- Tanner Hickman, Court Analyst, FOCB, SCAO, MSC
- Lara Markovitz, Court Analyst, FOCB, SCAO, MSC
- Morgan Titus, Court Analyst, FOCB, SCAO, MSC
- Elizabeth West, Management Analyst, FOCB, SCAO, MSC
- Nicole Withrow, Management Analyst, FOCB, SCAO, MSC
Nine professionals. All from the same bureau. All employed by the Michigan Supreme Court. All training new FOC employees on how to do the job.
These are not outside consultants. This is the state's own court administration training its own workforce. Registration was handled through the Michigan Judicial Institute at mjieducation.mi.gov, where applicants had to be approved before receiving access.
Boyd Says SCAO Has "No Legal Authority" Over Grievances
When The Kalamazoo Press submitted a press inquiry about the Kalamazoo County Friend of the Court's grievance process, which has produced zero corrective actions from 18 grievances over five consecutive years, State Court Administrator Tom Boyd responded through his Communications Director John Nevin with a clear position:
SCAO has "no legal authority" over the grievance process.
The statement was direct. Boyd's office does not intervene. It does not review outcomes. It does not investigate patterns. Even when a single county denies 100% of parent grievances for five straight years, SCAO's position is that the process falls outside its jurisdiction.
You Cannot Train the Workforce and Deny Responsibility for the Work
This is the contradiction at the center of Michigan's Friend of the Court system:
SCAO trains every new FOC employee. The curriculum is designed by Capps' bureau. The instructors are SCAO staff. The training covers how FOC offices should function, how custody and parenting time should be handled, how customer service should be delivered.
But when the trained employees fail, when grievances pile up, when parents report that caseworkers do not return calls, when complaint after complaint is denied without corrective action, SCAO says it has no authority.
The question is simple: If you train them, who is responsible when they fail?
- Capps designs and delivers the training.
- Boyd oversees Capps and SCAO.
- The Michigan Supreme Court oversees Boyd.
Every link in the chain has the power to set standards, design curriculum, and shape how FOC offices operate. But when parents ask why the system failed them, every link in that same chain says it is someone else's problem.
The Numbers That Make This Indefensible
In Kalamazoo County alone:
- 18 grievances filed between 2020 and 2024
- Zero corrective actions taken
- 100% denial rate sustained over five consecutive years
- Parents report caseworkers who do not respond, reviews that never happen, and a process that exists on paper but delivers nothing in practice
These are the employees that Capps' training program produced. These are the outcomes that Boyd's office says it cannot address. This is the system that the Michigan Supreme Court oversees but refuses to examine.
Capps stood in front of new hires and taught them about customer service. Boyd told the press his office has no authority. Meanwhile, not a single parent in Kalamazoo County received relief through the process that Michigan law guarantees them.
Who Answers for This?
The Friend of the Court Bureau under Capps does not merely advise. It trains. It publishes annual grievance reports. It sets operational standards. It hosts webinars where SCAO staff teach new employees how the system is supposed to work.
Tom Boyd does not merely observe. He is the State Court Administrator, appointed by the Michigan Supreme Court to manage the administrative operations of every court in the state. SCAO is his office. The FOC Bureau is his department. Capps reports to him.
When Boyd says SCAO has "no legal authority" over grievances, he is saying that the office which trains every FOC employee, publishes grievance data, and sets operational guidance for 75 counties has no power to act when the system it built produces a perfect record of failure.
Families are not asking for special treatment. They are asking why the people who designed the system, trained the staff, and published the reports refuse to answer for the results.
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