RAISING THE BAR: WHY SUPERVISED VISITATION PROVIDERS SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO MEET STANDARDS FOR SERVICE PROVISION

The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NYSPCC) has provided a supervised visitation program (SVP) for high‐risk families for almost two decades. Parents needing supervised visitation often have histories of domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, mental illness or substance abuse, therefore providers delivering services must be adequately trained and supervised in order to protect the child from further harm during the visitation process. This article describes the need for SVP's, parental issues warranting consideration, the special needs of children in these circumstances, policy recommendations for provider standards, and a certification process to be developed and adopted in New York State.     

SUPERVISED VISITATION: A CALL FOR A SECOND GENERATION OF RESEARCH

With the divorce rate rising and related child visitation disputes becoming an increasingly difficult issue before the courts, supervised visitation programs have proliferated over the last decade. The literature demonstrates that ongoing contact between children and both parents following separation and/or divorce is important for children's socio‐emotional adjustment and positive child/parent relations. However, there is a paucity of literature demonstrating a relationship between supervised visitation programs and child/parent relationship outcomes. Based on the lack of outcome research the authors argue for a second generation of research regarding intended and unintended consequences of supervised visitation. This article reviews and synthesizes the current literature, highlighting strengths, limitations, significant findings and proposes a critical need for evidence‐based research.     

Judicial Oversight of Parental Visitation in Family Reunification Cases

This article explores the issue of visitation between a child and parents in the context of child protection proceedings, addressing the following areas: 1) the importance of visitation in the context of family reunification; 2) the results of an informal study of visitation practices in several jurisdictions; 3) the law relating to visitation in child protection proceedings; 4) some best practices that have been identified by commentators; 5) the role of the judge regarding visitation issues; and 6) some recommendations for judges and court systems regarding visitation. The article concludes that visitation between a child and her parents often occurs too infrequently; as a result, the relationship between the child and parents can be damaged, the child can suffer further trauma, and the chances for successful family reunification may be reduced. Finally, judges and social service agencies can and must improve both the quality and quantity of parent‐child visitation.     

A COMPELLING NEED FOR MANDATED USE OF SUPERVISED VISITATION PROGRAMS

Courts are frequently confronted by circumstances that do not justify termination of all contact with a parent, yet present legitimate concerns regarding the physical, emotional, or mental health of the child. Supervised visitation programs afford such parents and their children the opportunity to preserve the emotionally vital parent-child relationship while protecting the child, and sometimes the other parent, from harm. As the number of children deemed to be at risk continues to rise, demand for supervised visitation services steadily exceeds supply. This article proposes that all states should make supervised visitation programs universally available by enacting legislation that provides for their creation, regulation, and funding, together with clearly defined guidelines that mandate participation in supervised visitation programs whenever specific risk factors are present.     

A Rigorous Quasi‐Experimental Design to Evaluate the Causal Effect of a Mandatory Divorce Education Program

All couples with minor children who filed for divorce within a specific 6‐week period (N = 191 couples) in one jurisdiction were ordered to attend a divorce education program. The control group included about 20 couples randomly selected from each of six 6‐week intervals before and six 6‐week intervals after the treatment interval (N = 243 couples). Archival records were searched for variables such as legal and residential custody award, visitation percentage, and relitigation. The impact of the program was assessed by evaluating, for each variable, whether the data for program interval departed from the straight (regression) line drawn through all the control group intervals. Only the visitation time award significantly differed: 27.75% for treatment couples and 22.46% for control couples. Analyses show that the father's attendance at the program primarily accounts for the difference.

Key Points for the Family Court Community
• There are considerable methodological weaknesses in most of the existing evaluations of divorcing parent education programs.
• Stronger, more scientifically rigorous—and thus persuasive—designs are possible in court settings, such as the regression discontinuity quasi‐experimental design we feature here.
• Archival records, such as various court filings, are a rich and relatively untapped source of data.
• Being mandated to attend a single 2‐hour divorcing parent education class caused an increase in the visitation time award in divorce decrees.
• There is a disconnect between being mandated by a judge to attend a program and actual attendance.

     

The Denial of Visitation Rights: A Preliminary Look at its Incidence, Correlates, Antecedents and Consequences

The issue of visitation denial has inspired considerable debate and legislative activity. This article presents empirical evidence on the scope of the problem and the relationship between visitation and child support payment behaviors. Visitation denial is shown to be a problem, although reported levels of denial fall below both levels of non-contact by absent parents and non-payment of child support noted in previous research. Visitation difficulties appear to become established fairly early on in the separation/divorce process and fail to deviate over time. Although non-payment of child support cases do not always involve a visitation problem, the two phenomena are related with visitation problem cases being more likely to involve non-payment of child support. The data do not permit a deciphering of causal order in cases that involve both types of non-compliance. However, both phenomena appear to stem from conflict patterns between the parents which are detectable at early stages of the divorce process. These findings inspire several recommendations, including interventions with divorcing parents aimed at enhancing their communication skills and reducing levels of anger and hostility and the need to develop mechanisms in which visitation and child support grievances can be jointly aired.     

FOSTERING CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE COURTS

This article focuses on how mediation services can be improved to better reflect the culture-based needs and expectations of Latino litigants. The research on which this article is based was conducted in a court-attached custody and visitation program in one U. S. community with a large Latino presence. The findings, recommendations, and conclusions are based on the problems, concerns, and general expectations of more recent arrivals to the United States – for the most part mono-lingual Spanish speaking. The study found that those Latino families have needs in resolving family disputes that differ from those of most Anglo families. The justice system needs to better understand the culture of Latino family life and the ways in which Latinos interact with governmental authority. The Latino families need education, direction and representation in dealing with governmental authority. The mediator can help both the justice system and the Latino family in meeting these needs.     

A NEW LOOK AT AN OLD ISSUE:

In 1997, the Office of Child Support Enforcement initiated the State Child Access and Visitation (AV) Grant Program, which involves annual awards of $10 million to states to promote the development of programs to alleviate access problems. Telephone interviews with 970 parents who used mediation, parent education, and supervised visitation programs funded by AV grants in nine states revealed that the programs are reaching diverse groups of parents including many low-income, non-White, and unmarried parents who receive no other type of access assistance. The programs also appear to be achieving the major objectives posited for them by the federal government. One-third to one-half of noncustodial parents in every program type reported that parent–child contact increased following program participation, with supervised visitation users who typically had the lowest levels of parent–child contact reporting a significant increase in the number of days of contact. A review of child support records for 173 program users in three states revealed that child support payments increased among participants following program participation, especially for never-married parents who paid a significantly higher proportion of what they owed. These findings are similar to results reported in a five-state study of mediation programs funded by AV grants that was conducted by the Office of the Inspector General. However, both studies have some serious limitations, including low response rates and the absence of a nontreatment comparison group.     

MANDATORY VISITATION

The term visitation rights connotes that noncutodial parents have the discretion, not the responsibility, to visit their children. This article examines the assertion that visitation rights should instead be viewed as an obligation owed by noncustodial parents to their children. Excluding circumstances in which visitation would be injurious to a child, the expectation of visitation should be enforced by the courts.     

Social isolation and inmate behavior: A conceptual framework for theorizing prison visitation and guiding and assessing research

Purpose

Scholarship suggests that prison visitation is important because it allows inmates access to social ties that, in turn, can offset social isolation and help inmates cope with the transition back into society upon release. Only a small number of empirical assessments of visitation exist, however, and existing studies have typically overlooked how the heterogeneity inherent in visitation may influence whether visitation is beneficial, harmful, or has no effect. The goal of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework for theorizing this heterogeneity and its impacts, evaluating visitation research, and guiding future research aimed at estimating visitation effects.

Methods

The paper reviews theory and research on inmate visitation. In so doing, it systematically examines heterogeneity in visitation and the implications of this heterogeneity.

Results

The paper identifies five dimensions—visitation timing, longitudinal patterns in visitation, visitor type, visitation experiences, and inmate characteristics—that can be used to characterize visitation events or patterns that, themselves, may have varied effects on in-prison outcomes and reentry outcomes.

Conclusions

More nuanced theories of, and empirical research on, inmate visitation are needed both to understand better the implications of visitation, and inmate social ties more broadly, and to advance theory, research, and policy.     

Inmate attitudes toward the conjugal visitation program in Mississippi prisons: An exploratory study

The purpose of this study is to compare and contrast attitudes of Mississippi inmates who participate in a conjugal visitation program with inmates who do not participate in such a program. Logistic regression analyses reveal no differences between participant and nonparticipant attitudes toward the conjugal visitation program. However, differences exist among gender and racial lines and several of the attitudinal issues regarding the program. Policy implications are also addressed.     

A REVIEW OF PROGRAMS DESIGNED TO PREPARE PARENTS FOR CUSTODY AND VISITATION MEDIATION

Mediation orientation programs are an increasingly common resource for parents preparing to mediate custody and visitation disputes. In this paper, we review empirical studies on program effectiveness and describe a range of programs in the U.S. Most are brief and psychoeducational in nature, focusing on the mediation process and the effects of conflict on children. Programs typically provide information through reading materials, slides, and videos, either in a group setting or online. Few evaluate program effectiveness. We offer suggestions for program evaluation and introduce an assessment‐based framework for providing individualized services for parents. Key Points for the Family Court Community

• ? Few Mediation Orientation programs have been empirically evaluated.
• ? Useful research designs would include (1) assessing participants both before and after the program and (2) comparing program participants to non‐participants.
• ? The psychoeducational components of Mediation Orientation programs may need to be tailored for low‐ and high‐conflict couples.

     

Family Law,Parents with Disabilities,and the Americans with Disabilities Act

Parents with disabilities contend with bias within the family law system, often threatening their custody and visitation rights. The overarching goal of this article is to explore the experiences of parents with disabilities involved in custody and visitation disputes and the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in these cases. This article begins with an overview of parents with disabilities and their interactions with the family law system. Next, the article examines the ADA and its applicability to custody and visitation disputes. Finally, the article offers thoughts about strategies that can be utilized by attorneys to ensure that the rights of parents with disabilities are protected.     

EXPENDITURES ON CHILDREN AND VISITATION TIME

In their critique, Garfinkel, McLanahan, and Wallerstein raise concerns about the representativeness of the authors' sample, benchmark approach methodology, and historical review of guidelines, all of which lead them to discount the evidence presented opposing the cliff-model assumption of father expenditures on children, and to laud instead child support guidelines that give little monetary credit or adjustment for visitation. This article presents evidence that (a) this sample is at most little biased, and remains trustworthy for the main implications presented; (b) although only a beginning, the benchmark approach is highly useful and most of the concerns raised about it are ill founded or implausible; and (c) the historical review suggesting that current guidelines assume zero visitation expenses is indeed accurate for the vast majority of states, according to the foremost authority. Thus, notwithstanding the critique, these findings have merit and importance and should be considered by policy makers. The authors also comment on the additional arguments against continuous and generous adjustments for visitation, finding them based on a weak foundation of evidence and reasoning.     

SUPERVISED VISITATION A Profile of Providers

Surveys with 94 administrators of supervised visitation programs, 51 family court judges, and 40 administrators of child protective services agencies provide a national picture of supervised visitation services, their utility, and areas of unmet need. Although the programs are perceived to fill an important need, they struggle to survive financially, particularly those that handle family court cases. In addition, because many programs operate without adequate access to the assessment and treatment services that some families need, judges frequently want visitation supervisors to assist them in determining suitable custody and visitation arrangements, a role that supervised visitation programs do not feel is appropriate. Many different types of entities provide effective supervised visitation services; many different service formats work. Architects of new programs should fashion services that use local resources to maximum advantage.     

Online Virtual Supervised Visitation During the COVID‐19 Pandemic: One State's Experience

This paper describes how supervised visitation programs in Florida rapidly transitioned from in‐person supervised visits to virtual, online visits during the COVID‐19 pandemic to protect the health of families and staff. Structured telephonic interviews and an online survey revealed that although most program directors had not previously developed guiding policies or hosted such visits, within weeks they were providing hundreds of online “virtual visits” between children and their non‐custodial parents to maintain the crucial parent–child relationship in a safe manner. Vignettes from this data provide lessons regarding parent and child reactions to virtual visits, advantages and disadvantages of virtual visits from the programs' perspectives, and levels of enthusiasm for using virtual visits going forward. In addition, the data includes recommendations for new program guidelines and protocols for the ongoing use of virtual visits. Although it is too early to call these policies best practices, the study does offer insight into the challenges and opportunities afforded by virtual visits and can inform disaster planning that supervised visitation programs develop to prepare for inevitable future disruptions in services to families.     

MANDATORY MEDIATION OF CUSTODY IN THE FACE OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Mediation is frequently mandated as a first step for custody, visitation, and divorce cases. As a process that requires a balance of power between participants, mediation is not an appropriate method to resolve domestic violence disputes, a phenomenon that reflects profound disparities in power between the perpetrator and the victim. Of all marriages referred to court-based divorce and custody/visitation mediation programs, 50% to 80% involve domestic violence. This raises very serious questions about mandatory mediation. This article considers the effects of domestic violence on the mediation process. It questions the use of mandatory mediation and suggests ways that mediators might recognize and respond to domestic violence.     

New York State of Mind: Parental Incarceration and Children's Visitation in New York State

The incarceration of a parent has a variety of negative effects on a child's psychological, academic, and developmental success. Children can end up in foster care as a result of the state terminating parental rights due to the parent's incarceration. Despite imprisonment of their parent(s), maintenance of visitation with the parent(s) is still important for their children. However, not all prisons have visitation programs that are suitable to visiting children. This Note proposes a model state statute that will recognize the importance of visitation, implement “child friendly” visitation programs, facilitate training for prison staff, and provide transportation for children in major cities to the prison facilities.