Family Pathways provides a safe and positive way for children to visit with their parents as their families experience a difficult or transitional time. The child(ren) and visiting parent(s) are given a private, child-friendly room to spend time together. The child and parent are monitored by a trained staff person who is neutral to the family situation.
Supervised visitation may be required by the court, Health and Human Services or requested as self-referrals. There are many reasons supervision may be needed including difficulty with divorce or break up, domestic violence, abuse or neglect, or as an adjustment for a long time of separation from a parent so that all participants may become reacquainted.
Both Parties are required to complete an intake interview with the Family Pathways staff prior to any visits. The intake process includes policies and procedures that will ensure a safe visit for the children and parents.
Services include:
- Contact between a parent and their child(ren) in the presence of a third person who is responsible for observing and ensuring the safety of those involved.
- Supervision of the transfer of the child(ren) from one parent to the other, limited to the actual transfer with the remainder of the visit unsupervised. In these situations, extra precautions are taken to ensure that the individuals exchanging the child do not come in contact with one another
Benefits of Family Pathways:
- Provides a safe and confidential environment for parents to visit with their children.
- Provides a “neutral ground” for parents to exchange their children in a safe and non-confrontational environment.
- Provides an opportunity to maintain and strengthen family relationships.
- Enables the visiting parent to stay current with the child’s development, interests and activities.
- Helps parents learn to successfully parent their children, directly influencing the children in a positive way.
- Enables the non-custodial parent the opportunity to get reacquainted with his or her child.
Reasons for Supervised Visits
- To help reintroduce a parent to a child after a long absence from the child’s life.
- To help introduce a parent and a child when there has been no prior relationship between the parent and the child.
- When there are issues of mental illness, domestic violence, child abuse or neglect, or drug or alcohol abuse.
- When there are parenting concerns.
- When there is a threat of kidnapping.
- To give the parent a chance to show they are capable of appropriate parenting.
If you are interested in joining, please complete the Family Pathways Application.
For more information, to make a referral or to schedule an intake, email FamilyPathways@sheboygancountyinterfaith.org or call (920) 457-7272 ext 117.
*please note our staff are part-time and typically work 2nd shift to accommodate working parents and children in school.