Martinez Starts a New Chapter

Sometimes being wrong is being right. Twenty-two years ago, Marcie Martinez started working for a child support company in Kansas but didn’t think she would stay in child support for long.

“I thought I would do it for a while and then get out,” she said. “I thought it would just be filing some paperwork, enforcing court orders, and there wasn’t going to be much more to it.”

She didn’t get out. Instead, on Monday, Marcie will begin her tenure as the Director of Child Support Services for Kansas’ Department for Children and Families, overseeing the statewide child support program.

“This is a move I never anticipated making,” Marcie said. “But I’m excited.”

Marcie’s professional career has been dedicated to improving the lives of families in her home state. She started as a staff attorney in the Topeka, Kansas child support office and then was an Assistant District Court Trustee for Douglas County, Kansas. In 2007, Marcie left child support to practice tax law as a Tax Research Attorney for a firm in Topeka. Tax law had always interested Marcie and was an area of emphasis for her while earning her juris doctor from the University of Kansas School of Law. But as Marcie learned, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence.

“The tax job was very corporate, and it was a lot of hours, especially during tax season,” Marcie said. “My son was a baby at the time, and I didn’t like being away from my kids. Child support is like a big family. I loved the people I worked with and didn’t have that feeling in the corporate world.”

Marcie’s time away from child support didn’t last long. In 2010, Marcie joined YoungWilliams as a Staff Attorney in Topeka, and three years later when the state of Kansas privatized its entire child support program, Marcie was named Regional Project Manager in Olathe, Kansas. During this time, she oversaw the operations of approximately one-third of the state’s entire caseload.

“Marcie has been an important part of our YoungWilliams team,” President Rob Wells said. “We will miss her, but we know she will continue to do great things for the families of Kansas.”

Marcie has enjoyed her time with YoungWilliams. She has watched the company grow into the largest provider of child support services in the nation, but has also seen firsthand how the company is “one big family.”

“I have loved working for this company. I have seen YoungWilliams grow from a small company to what it is now,” Marcie said. “When I had breast cancer in 2014, Rob (Wells) and everyone on down were all very supportive. The company showed it cared about my well-being, and that’s not something you get from a lot of companies. I have learned a ton as Project Manager.”

Working in child support proved to be Marcie’s passion. Most of the time it was a thankless job, but the times she did receive thanks are memorable. Her interest in child support never wavered, and she was able to use experiences from every area of law to make people’s lives better.

“I remember one lady who had twins and after a hearing we talked for more than an hour. She told me how frustrated she was and appreciated the work we were doing,” Marcie, who has twin girls herself, said. “It was very rewarding to hear from someone in a similar situation. More often than not you don’t get a thank you, but you remember those that do.”

Everyone at YoungWilliams says “thank you” to Marcie for her years of hard work and dedication to improving the lives of families, and we all wish her the best in her next adventure.