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Visitation Programs

Scientific Ratings in this Topic
  • 1 Well-Supported by Research Evidence
  • 2 Supported by Research Evidence
  • 3 Promising Research Evidence
  • 4 Evidence Fails to Demonstrate Effect
  • 5 Concerning Practice
  • NR Not able to be Rated

Topic Areas

Topic Areas

Definition

Visitation Programs are defined by the CEBC as programs that support face-to-face contact between parents and their children who are in out-of-home care or noncustodial parents and their children who currently do not live with them. Visitation maintains parent-child relationships necessary for successful family reunification while maintaining child safety. These services are typically scheduled in advance in a neutral setting. Visits can occur on a continuum of support and may be unsupervised or may include monitoring, coaching, and/or supervision during visits. Research that has been conducted on visitation identifies maintaining parent-child relationships and other family attachments, as well as reducing the sense of abandonment that children experience during placement, as potential benefits of this type of intervention. Since 2007, the CEBC has highlighted supervised visitation programs. In order to include programs that use different types of visitation models, the CEBC revised and expanded this topic area in June 2018.

  • Target population: Families with children in out-of-home care, or families involving a noncustodial parent(s)
  • Services/types that fit: Services focused on supporting the visitation process that may occur in an office, community, or home setting; visits may be unsupervised or may include monitoring, coaching, and/or supervision during visits
  • Delivered by: Child welfare workers, social workers, foster (relative and nonrelative) parents, mental health providers, trained professionals, or paraprofessionals
  • In order to be included: Program must specifically target visitation as a goal
  • In order to be rated: There must be research evidence (as specified by the Scientific Rating Scale) that examines the outcomes of visitation services, such as decreased time to reunification, increased attachment between the parent and the child(ren), or improved parenting skills.

Definition

Visitation Programs are defined by the CEBC as programs that support face-to-face contact between parents and their children who are in out-of-home care or noncustodial parents and their children who currently do not live with them. Visitation maintains parent-child relationships necessary for successful family reunification while maintaining child safety. These services are typically scheduled in advance in a neutral setting. Visits can occur on a continuum of support and may be unsupervised or may include monitoring, coaching, and/or supervision during visits. Research that has been conducted on visitation identifies maintaining parent-child relationships and other family attachments, as well as reducing the sense of abandonment that children experience during placement, as potential benefits of this type of intervention. Since 2007, the CEBC has highlighted supervised visitation programs. In order to include programs that use different types of visitation models, the CEBC revised and expanded this topic area in June 2018.

  • Target population: Families with children in out-of-home care, or families involving a noncustodial parent(s)
  • Services/types that fit: Services focused on supporting the visitation process that may occur in an office, community, or home setting; visits may be unsupervised or may include monitoring, coaching, and/or supervision during visits
  • Delivered by: Child welfare workers, social workers, foster (relative and nonrelative) parents, mental health providers, trained professionals, or paraprofessionals
  • In order to be included: Program must specifically target visitation as a goal
  • In order to be rated: There must be research evidence (as specified by the Scientific Rating Scale) that examines the outcomes of visitation services, such as decreased time to reunification, increased attachment between the parent and the child(ren), or improved parenting skills.

Why was this topic chosen by the Advisory Committee?

The Visitation Programs topic area is relevant to child welfare because it is often a necessary step towards reunification of a child with their birth parent. Visitation has been found to be strongly associated with the outcomes of placement, particularly family reunification, and with the length of stay in foster care. According to research, the children who were visited most frequently were more likely to be reunified with their parents and to experience shorter placements before reunification. In addition, researchers have found a relationship between the frequency of the parent-child visits and the child(ren)'s well-being while in foster care. Children in foster care who are visited frequently by their parents are more likely to have high well-being ratings and are more likely to adjust well to their foster care placement than are children less frequently or never visited. Frequent visiting has consistently been found not only to emotionally benefit children in care but also to contribute to the achievement of permanency.

Stuart Oppenheim
Executive Director
Child and Family Policy Institute of California
Sacramento, CA

Why was this topic chosen by the Advisory Committee?

The Visitation Programs topic area is relevant to child welfare because it is often a necessary step towards reunification of a child with their birth parent. Visitation has been found to be strongly associated with the outcomes of placement, particularly family reunification, and with the length of stay in foster care. According to research, the children who were visited most frequently were more likely to be reunified with their parents and to experience shorter placements before reunification. In addition, researchers have found a relationship between the frequency of the parent-child visits and the child(ren)'s well-being while in foster care. Children in foster care who are visited frequently by their parents are more likely to have high well-being ratings and are more likely to adjust well to their foster care placement than are children less frequently or never visited. Frequent visiting has consistently been found not only to emotionally benefit children in care but also to contribute to the achievement of permanency.

Stuart Oppenheim
Executive Director
Child and Family Policy Institute of California
Sacramento, CA

Topic Expert

The Supervised Visitation Programs topic area was originally launched in 2007. Peg Hess, PhD, was the topic expert and was involved in identifying and rating any of the programs with an original load date of December 2007 (as found on the bottom of the program's page on the CEBC). All of the programs in this topic area that were added from 2008 to 2017 were identified by CEBC staff, the Scientific Panel, and/or the Advisory Committee. For these programs, Dr. Hess was not involved in identifying or rating them. In 2018, the topic area was revised and expanded to include both supervised and unsupervised visitation and visitation support programs. It was renamed "Visitation Programs" at this time.

The Visitation Programs topic area was launched in 2018. Ande Nesmith, MSW, PhD, LISW, was the topic expert and was involved in identifying and rating any of the programs with an original load date in 2018 (as found on the bottom of the program's page on the CEBC). All of the programs in this topic area that were added since 2018 were identified by CEBC staff, the Scientific Panel, and/or the Advisory Committee.



Topic Expert

The Supervised Visitation Programs topic area was originally launched in 2007. Peg Hess, PhD, was the topic expert and was involved in identifying and rating any of the programs with an original load date of December 2007 (as found on the bottom of the program's page on the CEBC). All of the programs in this topic area that were added from 2008 to 2017 were identified by CEBC staff, the Scientific Panel, and/or the Advisory Committee. For these programs, Dr. Hess was not involved in identifying or rating them. In 2018, the topic area was revised and expanded to include both supervised and unsupervised visitation and visitation support programs. It was renamed "Visitation Programs" at this time.

The Visitation Programs topic area was launched in 2018. Ande Nesmith, MSW, PhD, LISW, was the topic expert and was involved in identifying and rating any of the programs with an original load date in 2018 (as found on the bottom of the program's page on the CEBC). All of the programs in this topic area that were added since 2018 were identified by CEBC staff, the Scientific Panel, and/or the Advisory Committee.



Programs

Strive™ Supervised Visitation Program

The Strive™ Supervised Visitation Program is a manualized parent education and support intervention/prevention program delivered in the context of parent-child visits to enhance parent engagement and the quality of parent-child visits. The program is designed to be delivered by lay visit supervisors who have been trained as Strive Visit Navigators (VN) to use the strengths-based, relationship-focused, trauma-informed and developmentally tailored features of the curriculum. By reaching out to parents early in their visiting experience, ideally before the first visit, the program aims to provide a supportive environment where goals and expectations are clear, a trusted connection with parents is built, and positive parenting practices and skills are developed and/or reinforced. Each parent is assigned their own VN to help prepare them to successfully navigate the often challenging and traumatic parent-child visit experience.

Scientific Rating 3

Visit Coaching/Family Time Coaching

Visit Coaching (developed by Marty Beyer, PhD), also called Family Time Coaching, is fundamentally different from supervised visits because the focus is on the strengths of the family and the needs of the children. Visit Coaching supports families to meet the unique needs of each child during their family time in the community, family homes, visit centers, or offices. Visit Coaching includes:

  • Helping parents understand the unique developmental needs of their child and demonstrate that understanding during visits with their child
  • Preparing parents for their children’s separation- (and trauma-) related needs and reactions during visits
  • Helping parents give their children their full attention at each visit
  • Building on the parent’s strengths in meeting each child’s needs
  • Helping parents visit consistently and keep their sadness, anger, and other issues out of the visit

Scientific Rating 3

Families Together

Families Together, a program of Providence Children's Museum (PCM), was created in 1992 in collaboration with the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF). The program provides therapeutic visits for children aged 1 to 11 throughout Rhode Island with their parents. These families must have been separated by court order due to abuse or neglect and referred to the program by their DCYF caseworker. These participant families consist of children and their parent or parents, and in some cases extended family members. The family makes a series of visits to the museum, where, under the guidance of the program's family therapists, they play and learn together. The families visit PCM weekly or bi-weekly for 3 to 6 months; some continue for as long as a year. Families Together program assistants provide transportation. Guided by one of the family therapists, families engage in healthy play activities and communication necessary for successful reunification. Visiting in this environment gives parents hands-on experience and immediate feedback as they master parenting skills.

Scientific Rating NR

Fostering Relationships

Fostering Relationships is designed to support families with young children in the foster care system. Birth parents work with a mentor and their child’s foster parent with the aim of decreasing child distress, improving birth parent expectations and play behaviors, and improving the birth and foster parent relationship. For the first 5 visits that a birth parent has with their child, foster parents transport children to visitation and stay in the visitation. Having both caregivers present in initial visitations can help decrease distress in children. Prior to each visitation, birth parents meet with a mentor that teaches them how to anticipate child distress or reticence and follow their children’s lead during play. Lastly, the program teaches foster parents to make comments in-the-moment that support birth parents following their children’s lead. Foster parents are encouraged to support birth parents and help birth parents play with their young children in a way that promotes regulatory skills.

Scientific Rating NR

Just Beginning (JB) Program

The Just Beginning (JB) Program is a structured visitation program designed specifically for young noncustodial fathers, particularly those in juvenile or criminal justice facilities with the goals of building and strengthening the relationship between father and child. JB can also be used with young incarcerated mothers. JB programming and visitation can also been done virtually. JB aims to enhance the quality of interactions, foster secure attachments, and maintain strong bonds with the child as well as encourage communication with the child's primary caregiver. The program consists of five 60-90 minutes sessions, during which a JB-certified facilitator helps the father to master four key skills:

  • Noticing the child's signals and cues
  • Following the child's lead
  • Talking to the child
  • Encouraging and praising the child

Embedded within each session is a visit between the parent and the child during which the father practices these skills.

Scientific Rating NR

Keeping Kids in Mind

The Keeping Kids in Mind (KKIM) group-work parenting program is designed to assist parents to see through their children's eyes the experience and impact of being trapped in medium- to high-level chronic parental conflict and to develop greater awareness and understanding about how to support children following family separation. KKIM is a two-and-a-half-hour weekly psychoeducational group that focuses on the development of parental reflective functioning; that is, developing the parents' awareness about the impact of their behaviour upon their children and developing their ability to think and consider their children's wellbeing in their actions and communications with their child's other parent. The group meets for a duration of five weeks and is designed for up to 15 participants.

Scientific Rating NR

My Kids and Me

The program was designed specifically for the parents of children in out-of-home care. Restoration may or may not be part of the case plan. The course is not designed to give participants practical parenting help, rather its aim is to give participants an opportunity to reflect on their experiences and provide an opportunity for change. The program uses metaphor as a therapeutic process of change and works within an attachment framework.

This course is designed to have genuine respect and dignity shown to the participants by the facilitators. Facilitators must be nonjudgmental, accepting of difference, supportive, and respectful in order that, where appropriate. They are able to challenge the participants in their thinking, behaviour, or world view.

Scientific Rating NR

Supportive Virtual Family Time Program

The Supportive Virtual Family Time Program was created to support parents and children in foster or relative care in having positive virtual family time visits while they are unable to visit in person; for example, during the COVID-19 pandemic. This free program is designed to create structure, guidance, and training for those supervising virtual parent-child visits, with the goal of helping them facilitate positive remote supervised visits between parents and their children in out-of-home care. The program and training is geared toward both private agency supervised visitation providers as well as child welfare caseworkers who will be supervising these virtual visits.

Scientific Rating NR

Therapeutic Facilitated Visitation

Commitment to enhancing visitation opportunities for children and families led to the development of the TFV program. The focus is on the family's strengths and resiliency' and the ultimate goal is reunification and permanency. TFV is designed to create, maintain, and strengthen family relationships, with the goal of enhancing a child's well-being and lessening the impact of separation.

The duration and number of visits per week is determined by Family Courts, however all program visits include 15-minute previsit and postvisit sessions. During these times, the parent and caseworker plan a healthy, family-focused visit beforehand, and afterwards discuss areas of strength, concern, and next steps. The visit is closely monitored at all times; yet the program allows for an evolution from the structured, agency-based environment to community activities, and ultimately a home environment, as deemed appropriate.

Scientific Rating NR

Therapeutic Supervised Visitation Program

The Therapeutic Supervised Visitation Program provides specialized and intensive services to vulnerable children and their families: children in foster care and children involved in high-risk custody and visitation cases in family court proceedings. Therapeutic supervised visitation services are designed to help parents who cannot have unsupervised access to their children due to a history of child physical or sexual abuse, domestic violence, substance abuse, or mental illness. Rather than eliminating contact between a noncustodial parent and child, supervised visitation creates a one-on-one supportive setting where the relationship can safely continue and be strengthened while pending legal issues are addressed by the child protective and court systems. The program allows visiting parents to spend time with their children in the presence of a Master's-level clinician or a Masters of Social Work intern supervised by licensed clinicians. Families receive support from skilled clinicians to strengthen or repair their relationship with their children. Supervised visitation is intended to be a temporary remedy with most parents moving toward less restrictive or unsupervised visits with their child whenever possible. When a family is transitioning to unsupervised visits, The Therapeutic Supervised Visitation Program provides a neutral place for the safe transfer of children during unsupervised visits when there are restrictions placed on the contact between parents.

Scientific Rating NR

Programs

Strive™ Supervised Visitation Program

The Strive™ Supervised Visitation Program is a manualized parent education and support intervention/prevention program delivered in the context of parent-child visits to enhance parent engagement and the quality of parent-child visits. The program is designed to be delivered by lay visit supervisors who have been trained as Strive Visit Navigators (VN) to use the strengths-based, relationship-focused, trauma-informed and developmentally tailored features of the curriculum. By reaching out to parents early in their visiting experience, ideally before the first visit, the program aims to provide a supportive environment where goals and expectations are clear, a trusted connection with parents is built, and positive parenting practices and skills are developed and/or reinforced. Each parent is assigned their own VN to help prepare them to successfully navigate the often challenging and traumatic parent-child visit experience.

Scientific Rating 3

Visit Coaching/Family Time Coaching

Visit Coaching (developed by Marty Beyer, PhD), also called Family Time Coaching, is fundamentally different from supervised visits because the focus is on the strengths of the family and the needs of the children. Visit Coaching supports families to meet the unique needs of each child during their family time in the community, family homes, visit centers, or offices. Visit Coaching includes:

  • Helping parents understand the unique developmental needs of their child and demonstrate that understanding during visits with their child
  • Preparing parents for their children’s separation- (and trauma-) related needs and reactions during visits
  • Helping parents give their children their full attention at each visit
  • Building on the parent’s strengths in meeting each child’s needs
  • Helping parents visit consistently and keep their sadness, anger, and other issues out of the visit

Scientific Rating 3

Families Together

Families Together, a program of Providence Children's Museum (PCM), was created in 1992 in collaboration with the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF). The program provides therapeutic visits for children aged 1 to 11 throughout Rhode Island with their parents. These families must have been separated by court order due to abuse or neglect and referred to the program by their DCYF caseworker. These participant families consist of children and their parent or parents, and in some cases extended family members. The family makes a series of visits to the museum, where, under the guidance of the program's family therapists, they play and learn together. The families visit PCM weekly or bi-weekly for 3 to 6 months; some continue for as long as a year. Families Together program assistants provide transportation. Guided by one of the family therapists, families engage in healthy play activities and communication necessary for successful reunification. Visiting in this environment gives parents hands-on experience and immediate feedback as they master parenting skills.

Scientific Rating NR

Fostering Relationships

Fostering Relationships is designed to support families with young children in the foster care system. Birth parents work with a mentor and their child’s foster parent with the aim of decreasing child distress, improving birth parent expectations and play behaviors, and improving the birth and foster parent relationship. For the first 5 visits that a birth parent has with their child, foster parents transport children to visitation and stay in the visitation. Having both caregivers present in initial visitations can help decrease distress in children. Prior to each visitation, birth parents meet with a mentor that teaches them how to anticipate child distress or reticence and follow their children’s lead during play. Lastly, the program teaches foster parents to make comments in-the-moment that support birth parents following their children’s lead. Foster parents are encouraged to support birth parents and help birth parents play with their young children in a way that promotes regulatory skills.

Scientific Rating NR

Just Beginning (JB) Program

The Just Beginning (JB) Program is a structured visitation program designed specifically for young noncustodial fathers, particularly those in juvenile or criminal justice facilities with the goals of building and strengthening the relationship between father and child. JB can also be used with young incarcerated mothers. JB programming and visitation can also been done virtually. JB aims to enhance the quality of interactions, foster secure attachments, and maintain strong bonds with the child as well as encourage communication with the child's primary caregiver. The program consists of five 60-90 minutes sessions, during which a JB-certified facilitator helps the father to master four key skills:

  • Noticing the child's signals and cues
  • Following the child's lead
  • Talking to the child
  • Encouraging and praising the child

Embedded within each session is a visit between the parent and the child during which the father practices these skills.

Scientific Rating NR

Keeping Kids in Mind

The Keeping Kids in Mind (KKIM) group-work parenting program is designed to assist parents to see through their children's eyes the experience and impact of being trapped in medium- to high-level chronic parental conflict and to develop greater awareness and understanding about how to support children following family separation. KKIM is a two-and-a-half-hour weekly psychoeducational group that focuses on the development of parental reflective functioning; that is, developing the parents' awareness about the impact of their behaviour upon their children and developing their ability to think and consider their children's wellbeing in their actions and communications with their child's other parent. The group meets for a duration of five weeks and is designed for up to 15 participants.

Scientific Rating NR

My Kids and Me

The program was designed specifically for the parents of children in out-of-home care. Restoration may or may not be part of the case plan. The course is not designed to give participants practical parenting help, rather its aim is to give participants an opportunity to reflect on their experiences and provide an opportunity for change. The program uses metaphor as a therapeutic process of change and works within an attachment framework.

This course is designed to have genuine respect and dignity shown to the participants by the facilitators. Facilitators must be nonjudgmental, accepting of difference, supportive, and respectful in order that, where appropriate. They are able to challenge the participants in their thinking, behaviour, or world view.

Scientific Rating NR

Supportive Virtual Family Time Program

The Supportive Virtual Family Time Program was created to support parents and children in foster or relative care in having positive virtual family time visits while they are unable to visit in person; for example, during the COVID-19 pandemic. This free program is designed to create structure, guidance, and training for those supervising virtual parent-child visits, with the goal of helping them facilitate positive remote supervised visits between parents and their children in out-of-home care. The program and training is geared toward both private agency supervised visitation providers as well as child welfare caseworkers who will be supervising these virtual visits.

Scientific Rating NR

Therapeutic Facilitated Visitation

Commitment to enhancing visitation opportunities for children and families led to the development of the TFV program. The focus is on the family's strengths and resiliency' and the ultimate goal is reunification and permanency. TFV is designed to create, maintain, and strengthen family relationships, with the goal of enhancing a child's well-being and lessening the impact of separation.

The duration and number of visits per week is determined by Family Courts, however all program visits include 15-minute previsit and postvisit sessions. During these times, the parent and caseworker plan a healthy, family-focused visit beforehand, and afterwards discuss areas of strength, concern, and next steps. The visit is closely monitored at all times; yet the program allows for an evolution from the structured, agency-based environment to community activities, and ultimately a home environment, as deemed appropriate.

Scientific Rating NR

Therapeutic Supervised Visitation Program

The Therapeutic Supervised Visitation Program provides specialized and intensive services to vulnerable children and their families: children in foster care and children involved in high-risk custody and visitation cases in family court proceedings. Therapeutic supervised visitation services are designed to help parents who cannot have unsupervised access to their children due to a history of child physical or sexual abuse, domestic violence, substance abuse, or mental illness. Rather than eliminating contact between a noncustodial parent and child, supervised visitation creates a one-on-one supportive setting where the relationship can safely continue and be strengthened while pending legal issues are addressed by the child protective and court systems. The program allows visiting parents to spend time with their children in the presence of a Master's-level clinician or a Masters of Social Work intern supervised by licensed clinicians. Families receive support from skilled clinicians to strengthen or repair their relationship with their children. Supervised visitation is intended to be a temporary remedy with most parents moving toward less restrictive or unsupervised visits with their child whenever possible. When a family is transitioning to unsupervised visits, The Therapeutic Supervised Visitation Program provides a neutral place for the safe transfer of children during unsupervised visits when there are restrictions placed on the contact between parents.

Scientific Rating NR