Supervised Access Program Ministry of the Attorney General Victims - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Ministry of the Attorney General Victims and Vulnerable Persons Division (VVPD) AFCC-O Conference Presentation October 2016

Supervised Access Program

Brief Background

 Provide a safe, neutral, child focused setting for visits and exchanges

between child and non-custodial parent or other person, such as a grandparent, where there is a concern for the safety of the child and/or the adults.

 MAG program created in 1992 to fill the gap in service for family law

cases; full provincial expansion only completed in 2003 to all court

• districts. Since 1992 went from 14 sites to the current 100 plus.

 35 nonprofit service providers with TP agreements with MAG  MAG program for custody and access NOT child protection  Different from CAS supervised access for kids in care - Facilitation

not enforcement; voluntary not mandated

 No legislation or regulation of supervised access except CLRA Section

34 (1) and (2) – centres must agree to provide service and can refuse or terminate services or provide service based on hours of operation and

• availability. Also Amendments to CFSA Sec 57.1(1) and 58: order for

custody and subsequent order for access as if made under CLRA

 Over 70,000 visits and exchanges/year; 2,600 families; 3,100 children

Accountability

 No provider, private or public, is accountable to

the Ministry except those with which we have a service agreement.

 Ministry does not track or recommend other

providers so ask questions before referring to them.

 Each centre has a community advisory committee

• r board which makes it accountable to the

community

Why Supervised Access?

 Safety is the issue: history/allegations of domestic

violence, abuse (emotional/physical), abduction, mental health problems, substance abuse, interference with access, interrupted/non- existent relationship with child, ongoing conflict, physical or developmental challenges that impact safe parenting (adult and/or child)

 99.9% of visits and exchanges occur safely

and without incident (program statistics 2015)

 Why not family and friends or public places? Not

neutral, not consistent, not necessarily safe, no notes or follow up.

Services

 Fully supervised visits on site; supervised exchanges – transfer of

children from one parent to the other for unsupervised visits off site

 Centres are community based and have differing hours of

• peration and fees (max. fees set by Ministry –reasonable and may

be lowered or waived based on financial need)

 No service boundaries so you can refer families who live outside

• f a district or area to any centre

 Each centre has its own intake so family cannot just move from

• ne centre to another

 Services are on site. Centres do not provide transportation.  Reports of factual observations: centres do not make

recommendations or give opinions – we cannot make predictions about access outside of the centre

How Does It Work?

 Referral by court order (CLRA/Divorce Act) or by

prior written agreement of parties

 Each party contacts centre to set up separate intake –

never contact between parties

 Coordinator determines if centre can provide service –

safety, availability – parties sign agreements for service

 Centre sets up schedule based on availability and hours

• f operation and needs of the family

 Child orientation scheduled prior to first visit/exchange

Day of Visit/ Exchange

 Parties arrive/depart at staggered intervals (NO contact)  Child never left alone while on site including washroom; staff always

in the room

 Centres are mostly daycare or community centre environments, some

homelike

 Visiting parent and child/ren play, eat, talk – parent may bring

activities or centres have toys, games, crafts

 Staff will intervene to promote safety (physical or emotional)  Not all centres have outdoor play areas  Always at least 2 staff on site; group environment means more than

• ne family may be visiting at one time

 Some centres have one volunteer/staff assigned to each family; others

may have 2 staff overseeing 2-3 families

Case – Related Mental Health Issues

 Dad visiting at centre with 4 year old son; also visiting

newborn daughter at the centre (child of another relationship)

 Originally dad did not reveal mental health concerns

because he was afraid he would be treated differently (badly) based on previous experiences with other types

• f services

 He originally lost service because his behaviour was

erratic, and threatening; service reinstated with conditions; issues of accommodation of anxiety disorder

 Within a year he achieved his goal of unsupervised visits

Grandparent Access

 Letter of thanks from grandparents to a centre  Used centre for a few months for court ordered

supervised access to see grandchildren

 Expressed how the centre made a difficult

situation easier for them through the compassion and kindness of staff

 Now seeing the children unsupervised and

reuniting them with cousins and other family members.

Culture of Collaboration

 Peer Review:

 Centre coordinators go in teams of 2 to visit one another’s

centres every 3 years.

 Review is for learning and service improvement; not an audit  Regional structure: there is a regional team lead who collects

the materials from the review teams and sends the information to Ministry program for follow- up when required

 SBP Manual (Standards & Best Practice Manual): developed

and revised with coordinators/service providers

 PDC (Professional Development Committee):

MAG/Coordinator collaboration to develop training

Super ervised ised Ac Acces ess s Program am Web Site: e: http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english /family/supaccess.asp

On the web site you will find:

List of MAG Supervised Access Centre

contact information

Information for Court Orders or

Agreements

Suggested Wording for Orders or

Agreements

Key Points

 Visit our web site on www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca  Contact local Ministry-funded supervised access centres:

speak to the Centre Coordinator

 Some but not all Centres accept volunteers and student

placements

 Contact the Ministry Program if you have any questions.

We are always pleased to speak with you.

 Judy.Newman@ontario.ca

Maribeth.Christensen@ontario.ca

 THANK

YOU.