In some rare cases, supervised visitation ends up being ordered in a divorce or a child custody case for one of the parents.  This can take place in cases where the courts feel that the parent is abusive or neglectful of their children.

Supervised visitation can be temporary for some parents during the case.  In these cases, the court is monitoring the behavior of the parent during the visits in some capacity.  In some cases, the parent could be undergoing counseling or therapy of some kind.  In some cases, the parent may have a drug or substance abuse problem in which they are seeking rehabilitation.  In other cases, the parent may be undergoing parental training of some kind.

In other cases, supervised visitation can be indefinite.  This can take place in cases where the parent’s abuse or neglect is pervasive.  It can also take place in cases where a parent has had opportunities to improve their parenting skills — and the court can be dissatisfied with the progress.

How Supervised Visitation Takes Place

No matter when supervised visitation takes place, the problem for courts and the parties can be how to have this visitation take place.  Also, who pays for the supervised visitation?  These are issues that can be problematic as they relate to supervised visitation.

The reality is that the exact way this can take place may vary by jurisdiction and locality.  Thus, it’s important to speak to an attorney in your jurisdiction about how it might work in a specific place.

Courthouse Or Other Location

But, generally speaking, supervised visitation can sometimes take place at a courthouse or a location set up through a court.  In these circumstances, courthouse personnel are often monitoring the visits to see how they progress.  The critique is that these visits can sometimes be short and infrequent.  Visitation at a location like this also doesn’t allow for a parent to take children out to other locations outside of the courthouse.  On the other hand, these visits are often paid for through taxpayer dollars and don’t result in an expense to the parent receiving the supervised visits.  Additionally, for the parent not being supervised, they might feel the children are safer in a more restricted environment.

Private Party

In other cases, the court may allow a private party to supervise visitation.  Private parties can sometimes be specifically designed by friends or family members whom the judge or the court trusts.  In these cases, the visitation is again doesn’t result in a financial cost to the parent.  The visitation can also allow for a parent to take children out to recreational places where the visitation can be more informal.  On the other hand, the other parent (who isn’t supervised) can sometimes have a concern about how well the visits are being supervised.

Visits for a Fee

Another option that can be utilized is through private parties or agencies that supervise visits for a fee.  In many places, there can be former family services workers, counselors, or therapists who will supervise visits and report back to the court.  In these cases, there is a fee for the supervised visits.  The children can oftentimes be taken to recreational locations where the visits can be more informal than a courthouse, but sometimes this is not the case.  The pro to this approach, some may argue, is that it’s less formal than at a courthouse but more formal than a friend or family member.  On the other hand, these types of visits can be quite expensive.

If you are going through a divorce or child custody matter where supervised visitations are an important issue, you can contact Stange Law Firm, PC at 1-855-805-0595.  We have attorneys available to discuss your unique situation with you.