When CPS removes your child(ren) and an order of protection against you is granted by the court or you’re placed on supervised visitation in a divorce or custody case, supervised visitation is often the only way you’re allowed to see your child(ren). However, CPS is not known for being a reliable or effective facilitator of supervised visitation- especially under what the average person would consider reasonable conditions. In some cases, the CPS and the court can and do allow extended family members or close friends to supervise this visitation instead of a professional service. Let’s go over the specific conditions, criteria and obligations of these circumstances in detail.
Especially in CPS cases where there is an allegation of domestic violence against one parent, there are times when one parent will be ordered out of the home and the other will remain with the child(ren) under CPS supervision. In cases like this, supervised visitation by CPS is typically allowed, but only at the discretion of CPS (which means CPS personnel are the only default approved party to supervise). However, supervised visitation might only be once a week and when they do cancel a supervised visit, there isn’t often much you can do about it. CPS is often short-staffed and due to the rate of cases coming in, their schedule may be unpredictable and therefore, they may not be able to be consistent in offering supervised visitation (as long as CPS is making its reasonable efforts as defined by the court, these unexpected cancellations are allowed). This is where CPS may outsource it to extended family or close friends, but only under specific conditions. In custody cases, a preferred supervisor for visitation might specifically have to be motioned for.
The CPS investigator, court, and/or foster/kinship care case manager may ask for a list of collaterals who may be able to serve as visitation supervisors. When the supervision is performed by someone the family knows and is comfortable around, visitation may be slightly easier. If this person also has higher availability, it may also allow for more frequent visitation. CPS will typically only accept candidates located in the same state as the agency, as they lose some control when the candidate is outside of their jurisdiction.
Once CPS and/or the court has information on the possible candidates to supervise the visitation, the candidates need to be screened for any history of child abuse or neglect. This is always done by CPS. History of substantiated allegations of child abuse or neglect or an active CPS case immediately exclude a candidate, while prior history of an unsubstantiated allegation of child abuse or neglect may or may not exclude a candidate; that is left to the sole discretion of CPS. They will not typically screen for prior history in a different state or look for criminal or domestic violence history, but they may do this, as well. While this stage of screening does not take long, CPS may drag its feet for weeks, as its often seen as a low priority task.
Next, CPS and/or the court will have to interview each of the candidates. They’ll be asked about their relationship to the family, where the supervision would take place, how often they can be available to supervise the visitation and details about their daily lives (such as any medical or mental health conditions and employment). The location of supervised visitation, if not the parent’s residence, will also have to be approved. If it is the candidate’s home, the home will have to be assessed and determined safe for the supervision to occur. If there are any safety concerns identified, the visitation cannot take place there. If the supervised visitation is allowed it to take place at a neutral location in the community, that must be screened for, too.
If a candidate passes all criteria to CPS and/or the court’s satisfaction satisfaction, the candidate’s responsibilities in supervising the visitation will be explained. This includes keeping the visitor separated from anyone there is an order of protection against him for, intervening and even cutting visitation short if any violations of the terms are observed (such as hostility, trying to manipulate the child(ren), etc.), speaking with CPS and/or the court about how the visitation is going and promptly reporting any violations or concerns to CPS and/or the court. If the candidate agrees to these terms and meets all other criteria discussed, s/he may be approved to supervise visitation. If they or the visitor fail to meet these terms in the eyes of CPS during the course of visitation, approval can be revoked at any time and unless the candidate agrees to the terms, they cannot be approved to supervise visits.
At Heartwork Defense, we recommend providing multiple collaterals for supervised visitation if you find yourself in such a situation. If CPS doesn’t bring it up, you should. This increases the chances at least one will be approved and the possibility that more than one will be approved. This will allow for any supervised visitation to be more reliable and in some cases, may increase the possible frequency of supervised visitation. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful about who you decide to offer as a candidate and do your due diligence first. You should make sure that the candidate(s) you do provide won’t intentionally make you look worse in the eyes of CPS and the court, as that could make resolving your case even more difficult.
While being subjected to supervised visitation is never ideal, getting the most time you can with your child(ren) is crucial to maintaining as strong a bond as possible. You want to prioritize maintaining that bond while you fight for your child(ren) and by working to ensure that your child(ren) will get to see that you are making an effort and keep them hopeful.