AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF SUPERVISED ACCESS AND CUSTODY EXCHANGE SERVICES |
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| Authors: | Jerry H Dunn Barbara E Flory Marla Berg-Weger |
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| Institution: | Jerri H. Dunn. Ph. D. is a postdoctoral fellow at Community Psychological Service and adjunct clinical instructor at University of Missouri–St. Louis. At the time this study was conducted, she was a supervised access facilitator and research coordinator at Heritage House. She can be contacted at .;Barbara E. Flory, M.S.W, L.C.S.W, is the program manager of Heritage House, a joint effort of Provident Counseling and the Twenty-Second Judicial Circuit of Missouri. St. Louis City Family Court. She is also an adjunct instructor at St. Louis University School of Social Services in Saint Louis, Missouri. She can be contacted at .;Marla Berg-Weger. Ph.D., L.C.S.W., is a professor and director of practicum at Saint Louis University School of Social Services, St. Louis, Missouri, She can be contacted at . |
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| Abstract: | The detrimental effect of parental conflict in protracted child custody and visitation disputes is well established in the literature. However, little is known about the impact of parental conflict on children when visitation takes place in a protected setting. Part of a larger study that examined the broader issues related to parental and child involvement in a supervised access and custody exchange service, this article specifically explores the influence of parental participation on child well-being. This exploratory effort reveals that children's level of adjustment remained stable over 6 months of participation while visitation returned to court-ordered levels and interparental contact was precluded by staff intervention. |
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| Keywords: | supervised visitation custody exchange transfer high-conflict families children of divorce child well-being |
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