This document was printed from the website of the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC), which you can access at http://www.cachildwelfareclearinghouse.org/
This document was printed from the website of the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC), which you can access at http://www.cachildwelfareclearinghouse.org/
Type of Maltreatment: Emotional abuse, Exposure to domestic violence, Physical abuse, Physical neglect, and Sexual abuse
Target Population: Victims of child abuse and neglect as well as victims of domestic violence
Brief Description:
The Family Visitation Center has been rated by the CEBC in the area of Child Welfare Visitation. The Family Visitation Center provides supervised visitations and exchanges, in addition to support services such as parenting classes. Visitation services are based on a court order as well as the Family Visitation Center’s assessment of the level of care needed for each family. The different levels of care are regular supervised visitation, supportive supervised visitation, intermittent supervised visitation, therapeutic supervised visitation, and off-site visitation. Trained staff is present to monitor all interaction between the children and the non-custodial parent(s) and to provide feedback to the parents. Staff also record all parent-child interactions and report back to the Court per court order. To ensure safety of the clients and staff, the Family Visitation Center is set up with separate parking facilities, entrances, waiting rooms and staggered arrival and departure times for the custodial and non-custodial parties so the parties never see each other before, during, or after the visit exchange.
Provisional feedback form not available in printout. Please access the website to use the form.
Family Visitation Center was not designed to be conducted in a group.
Family Visitation Center has not been tested for use in a group setting.
Recommended intensity: Contact between parties is typically 1.5 hours per week for visitation services. Some cases have more than one visit per week, some less. At times, the visit is reduced to one hour per week, if the child is experiencing difficulty during the visit. Visitation Services are set up per court order.
Recommended duration: Most of the clients use the visitation or exchange services for at least 6 months. Duration of use is set up per court order based on the history of the case, as well as reason for the referral.
Family Visitation Center does not include a homework component.
Family Visitation Center is typically conducted in a(n): Community Agency and Community Daily Living Settings.
Family Visitation Center was designed with a Parent Component.
Family Visitation Center addresses the following presenting problems and symptoms: Lack of parenting skills with children exposed to child abuse, neglect, and domestic violence.
Family Visitation Center was designed with a Child Component.
Family Visitation Center addresses the following presenting problems and symptoms: History of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence, fear of visiting non-custodial parent.
Age range(s): 0-17
Family Visitation Center was developed for children with developmental delays.
Family Visitation Center has not been tested for children with developmental delays.
Family Visitation Center was not designed for specific racial/ethnic/cultural groups.
Family Visitation Center was not tested in specific racial/ethnic/cultural groups.
There is not a manual that describes how to implement this program.
There is training available for Family Visitation Center.
Training contact: Nancy Chang, Director of Counseling and Visitation, Email: nchang@fssm.org, Phone: 650-403-4300, ext. 4224
Number of days/hours: Informal training/consultation is available to those who are interested.
Training is obtained: Via phone consultation or training contract with individual agencies.
There currently are not additional qualified resources for training.
The typical resources for implementing Family Visitation Center are: Security monitors are placed at each entrance and waiting room and throughout the facility in order to monitor client safety. We have 2 separate entrances and waiting rooms, and a large office space. We also have several offices where therapeutic visitation occurs, or for families needing a quieter, more contained space for their visit. We also use large open spaces for families to visit in a more casual atmosphere. The idea of these spaces is to provide a home-like feel, complete with attaching playrooms, living space with couches, and a kitchenette and bathroom.
Staff providing regular supervised visitation are subject to minimum requirements set by the court, which include being over 21 years old, having no DUI conviction in the past 5 years, having no conviction for child molestation, abuse, or other crimes against a person, having no restraining orders in the past 10 years, having no court order that requires supervision of the practitioner, an ability to speak the language of the person being supervised, and having no conflict of interest.
In addition to the above requirements for regular supervised visitation providers, therapeutic providers are licensed mental health providers (i.e. psychiatrist, psychologist, LCSW, MSW, MFT, or a registered intern working under direct supervision of a qualified mental health provider.
In addition to the minimum requirements, our staff are well trained on the issues of safety, documentation, and supervised visitation best practices.
Pearson, J. & Thoennes, N. Supervised visitation: Families and their expectations. Family and Conciliation Court Review, 38(1), 123-142.
There are currently no published articles on The Family Visitation Center.
Contact name: Nancy Chang, MA
Affiliation/Agency: Family Service Agency of San Mateo County
Email: nchang@fssm.org
Phone: 650-403-4300, ext. 4224
Fax: 650-403-4303
Website: http://www.familyserviceagency.org/programs_services/childFamilyVisitationCenter.htm