Child Contact Centres
Overview
A contact centre is a neutral place where children of separated families can enjoy contact with their non-resident parents and sometimes other family members, in a comfortable and safe environment. Child contact services are classified into two distinct categories, supported and supervised. Its primary role is to support and promote contact between those parents, grandparents, guardians and children that do not have a Residence Order.
The Law
The Cayman Islands Children Law (2012), Section 10 provides for the making, varying and discharging of Orders with respect to children in Family Proceedings. Based upon section 10(1) of this Law, a contact order may be made by the court to facilitate contact between a child and a person (named in the order) with whom the child does not live or stay. Under section 36, further provision is made for contact to be facilitated between children, parents and guardians in circumstances where a child is in the care of the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS).
Services
The Child Contact Centre managed by Social Work Associates Ltd. in collaboration with DCFS offers families access to a safe, neutral and child-focused venue for visiting. The service is designed to facilitate supported or supervised contact between non-resident parents and children who by reason of a care and protection order, or other circumstances including parental separation, or relationship disputes before the court, are unable to spend time with their children or to independently manage the making of arrangements for such interaction.
The Child Contact Centre provides a service that is guided by the principle of ‘best interests of the child.’ Our experienced family supervisors are committed to taking all necessary measures that will minimize the child’s exposure to conflictual or unsafe family contact experiences and also to helping families progress from supervised access to unsupervised contact in the community. When assisting the adult parties in maintaining or re-establishing their involvement in the child’s life, our supervisors’ goal is to help prevent extreme disruption in parent and child relationships and to encourage them in building positive and strong relationships with the children irrespective of any adversarial matter which is before the court.
Referrals
Referrals to the Child Contact Centre can be self-made and/or are accepted from attorneys, mediators, mental health professionals, the courts, DCFS and other agencies. Each adult participant must complete an intake interview and agree to follow the Child Contact Centre’s policies and procedures before using the service.
All services are pre-arranged by Social Work Associates Ltd. which reserves the right to refuse to provide services to a parent if that parent poses an unacceptable risk to the child, staff or other service users. The Child Contact Centre is provided on a flexible weekday schedule (3pm to 7pm) and alternate Saturdays (10am to 2pm) at three community-based facilities located in George Town, West Bay and Savannah. Our spaces are equipped with appropriate toys and materials to support and encourage positive and meaningful interaction.
Supervised & Supported Contact
Supervised contact is used when it has been determined that a child has suffered or is at risk of suffering harm during contact. Referrals will usually be made by the local authority, another child contact centre, a court, DCFS officer or by a self-referral. Supervised contact supports the physical safety and emotional wellbeing of a child whilst they have contact with their non-resident parent. We can help to re-establish contact when there has been a significant time lapse of no contact. We can assist parents in building and sustaining positive relationships between themselves and their child. We support contact for children with significant others in their families and promote sibling relationships. We work in a sensitive manner and at the child’s pace.
Supported contact takes place in a variety of neutral community venues where there are facilities to enable children to develop and maintain positive relationships with non-resident parents and other family members. They are suitable for families where no significant risk to the child or those around the child have been identified. Staff and volunteers are available for assistance but there is no close observation, monitoring or evaluation of individual contacts/conversation.
Handover Services
Parents do not have to meet as the handover will be done by our specialist team of contact supervisors. The non-resident parent will then take the child out of the centre for the duration of the visit, bringing them back to the centre afterwards. If a community handover is required, it may be possible for the child to be picked up from and then taken back to another mutually agreed venue.
Resources for Children
Sam's story about supervised visits
https://naccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Sams-story-V002.pdf
Pricing
Supervised contact: One time referral fee $75; $50.00 per hour; $55 per report
Supported contact: One time referral fee $75; $50 per hour
Supervised handover: One time referral fee $25; $40 per hour
Packages: Reserve 10-20 hours for a 10% discount; 21-30 hours for a 20% discount