WHY WE DO NOT HAVE A CENTER
There are many reasons we do not have a center or an office for Supervised Visitations. Supervised Visitations are not therapy, therefore a center or office is not appropriate for parenting time. If you or your family need therapy alongside Supervised Visitations, that is a great option! The purpose of Supervised Visitations is for a parent to spend quality time with their children in a safe, monitored setting where everything is observed, documented, and monitored within eye and ear sight at all times. During Supervised Visitations, we have strict visitation guidelines and rules to ensure an emotionally and physically safe visitation. The following statements are based on my personal beliefs from hundreds of client’s accounts over the past 10 years and my personal experience and knowledge working in this field over the past 10 years.
QUALIFICATIONS
Supervisors at Centers are often not trained, licensed or qualified in the areas we are. We are different than centers in that our background is diversely qualified in mental health, family law, reunification, special needs, sexual abuse, substance abuse, alcohol addiction, foster care, ongoing litigation battles, personality disorders, parenting coaching, mediation, alienation, domestic violence, child abuse, abandonment, high conflict and other areas of family dynamics. All visitations are documented thoroughly. We are considered experts by the court, and we do testify as well. All of our Supervisors are also Parenting Coaches as well. At Centers, they may not have consistent and up to date training in any of the above areas. Usually at a Center, only one qualified individual oversees visitations but is not the one writing the observation notes, testifying or conducting the actual supervision. Centers are not trained to deescalate situations, debrief with the children, help in reunification matters, or testify as experts in your case.
CONSISTENCY
With us, we offer one consistent, qualified, experienced and licensed Supervised Visitation Specialist for you and your family will work with. At Centers, you will have multiple Supervisors. For example, at a center, one visitation you can have a 19-year-old female college student and your next visitation you can have a 65-year-old male who is volunteering at the Center. An important part of Supervised Visitations is consistency. We have one Supervisor to ensure your children feel safe and are able to build a relationship with the Supervisor. This is important for documentation notes as well. Having one Supervisor promotes consistency to ensure the same visitation guideline rules and procedures are being followed and allows easier transitions for the children and parents to feel comfortable in the visitation. At Centers, having multiple Supervisors means they may not see consistencies occurring in the visitation, we are able to identify patterns in the visitation because your family will have one Supervisor.
SAFETY AND PRIVACY
At Centers, other families are allowed to be present. This means in the shared community areas of the Center, there can be possible exposure to parents who are not sober, are pedophiles, are abusive to their children or staff, etc. I have personally heard numerous incidents of parents at visitations masturbating at a center in front of other families and children, children being abducted by other parents, going to visitations high on drugs and parents physically assaulting staff or their children in front of other children. Centers also have parents in and out for pick up and drop offs. I have personally heard numerous incidents of violent and threatening pick up and drop offs occurring with other families. I have personally heard numerous incidents of drugs given to children in the visitations, children’s allergies not being respected, and unsafe regulations at Centers that have resulted children being admitted to hospitals. During visitations, we have strict visitation guidelines and rules that Centers may not enforce or also have.
OBSERVATION NOTES
I have testified as an expert regarding the inconsistencies and dangers of several Centers observation notes. The staff at Centers are not always trained and qualified, they alternate Supervisors, and the staff are not considered experts by the Court, their observation notes lack the ability to accurately document consistent patterns, parenting skills, interactions, attachments, bond, mood, behavior, temperament, organizational skills, communication skills, interpersonal skills, mental health problems, substance/alcohol issues, etc. Most centers use a template, specifically a rating system, and have a brief area for the Supervisor to document only what occurs in the visitation (for example stating what type of play a parent did in the visitation). We look more under the surface so we can be helpful to testify, help meet the needs of your case, and offer a more specialized experience for your family.
MEETING YOUR CHILDREN’S EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL NEEDS
Many parents have the false perception that a visitation occurring in the community or in a visiting parents’ home is not as a safe as a secured building/center. In fact, most children are petrified to go into Centers, where other families are present, they have alternating staff working with them, and all there is to do is sometimes broken board games and shared community spaces that can quickly get crowded. At Centers what often happens is the Supervisors sit in one area talking and hanging out while the other children and parents play together. For some children, they can feel unsafe being around so many strangers. Often times children get bored and parents run out of things to do in the visitation. Our Supervisors observe everything in eye and ear sight to ensure the visitation is safe. We also debrief with the children before, during and after the visitation, which Centers do not do. We are able to document emotional states, whereas Centers are not able to.
BENEFITS OF A NATURAL SETTING
Because Centers are not a natural parenting setting for parenting time, they may not accurately be able to document and Supervise a parent’s and child’s true attachment, personality, interaction, connection, mood, temperament and possible issues. This can even be due to children refusing to go to the visitation out of feeling uncomfortable to be at the center. Supervised Visitations are already a new process for children to undergo, by having them occur in familiar and known environments, it relieves children from the pressure of performing, siding with one parent over the other, feeling uncomfortable and feeling unsafe. Because everything is monitored in eye and ear sight at all times, our qualifications, and our procedures we ensure visitations are safer than most Centers.
INTERVENTION
Because we are qualified in what we do, we are trained to intervene when necessary, whereas Centers are not.
THINGS TO DO
Having visitations in the community means there are more to do for the kids, they are not forced to sit in a small room with run down and used toys and shared community areas with strangers and altering staff of various ages, genders and qualifications. With us, everything is still monitored within eye and ear sight at all times, so they children might as well be in a natural, familiar and known setting with one consistent Supervisor.
COURT
Because Centers are not considered experts by the Court or the Supervisors your family will work with, and because of their unqualified observation notes, most Centers are not qualified to testify as an expert in your case. Supervised Visitations cost money and why use your money to go towards an agency that cannot testify on your case and provide important information if needed. We are considered experts by the Court, are comfortable and known to testify if needed, and are able to bring helpful insight to your case. If you are not looking for an expert to testify, having an expert vs. untrained staff makes a huge difference in the quality of services you receive.
NEUTRAL, PROFESSIONAL, AND TRUSTWORTHY
Centers have a high turnover for staff and are usually constantly hiring because of this. The screenings to get employed by a Center are not as rigorous as ours. We ensure our staff has background checks, monthly up to date trainings and are qualified to do their jobs. They specifically undergo training on being neutral and professional, which matters when you are working with a professional short or long term. All of my staff have worked for me longer than 5 years, we do not have staff that come and go, we do not have newly trained staff your family will work with.
HOW TO SWITCH TO AN OFF-SITE SUPERVISOR LIKE US
I can not give legal advice. If you would like to switch from a court order or parenting plan for visitations occurring at a center to get them to occur in the community or a home visitation, we have seen hundreds of cases simply come to a mutual agreement to make this switch. Often times, the Court and other professions can be uninformed of the difference in centers vs what we do and the possibly harmful effects of centers.