Therapeutically Supervised Visitations

What are Therapeutic Supervised Visitations?

Therapeutic Supervised Visitations are visitations between a foster youth and their parent(s).   During these visitations, a clinician will work to assess, address and teach the family how to work through a variety of situations while maintaining a safe, positive experience for both the youth and the parent. 

How Do Therapeutic Supervised Visitations Start?

Prior to physical visits taking place, a clinician would set up private one-to-one sessions via video with both the youth and the parent separately.  The purpose of these sessions are to assess each person's readiness and appropriateness for visits with each other.  Once it is assessed to be safe for both parties to have a visit, a video visit will be arranged between both the youth and the parent.  Once there are a number of successful video visits, and the clinician assesses that the youth and the parent would be able to have positive in-person visits, then that will then be arranged.  

Where Are The Visits Held?

Due to the nature of a therapeutic supervised visit, it is best that in-person visits be done in an area where the youth and the parent are able to have a certain level of privacy while allowing both the youth and the parent to feel comfortable.  The visit could take place at the resource parent's home, at the parent's home or at an agreed upon location between the youth, the parent and the clinician.

What Does The Clinician Do During The Visit?

During virtual and in-person visits the clinician will be there the entire time, taking notes, and offering suggestions or feedback on how to improve communication as well as parenting and coping skills. It is important to note, reports of the visits may have to be shared with the Child Welfare Services case worker and the Family Court.  The clinician will also help the youth and the parent to have conversations, express feelings, in order to learn, grow and repair their family unit. 

Goal of Therapeutic Supervised Visitation

The ultimate goal of the clinician in a therapeutic supervised visitation is to improving the parent-child relationship while maintaining a sense of safety for the child. The clinician is experienced and knowledgeable in the areas of mental illness, parenting skills, childhood development, foster care, high conflict situations as well as the intricacies of the Child Welfare and the Family Court System. 

Safety Guidelines

The use of alcohol, tobaco, e-cigarettes, non-prescribed medication or any illicit substances by the visiting parent that may impair or cause distress to the youth is strictly forbidden.  If any of these substances are used or there is a suspicion of intoxication, the visit will be immediately cancelled.  

In the event of an emergency during the visitation the clinician will first call 911 then the resource parent and then assigned case worker to inform them of the situation. The clinician cannot guarantee safety, but will promote safety and expect that all participants agree to behave in a safe manner as well. 

The clinician is a mandated reporter of child abuse and neglect and will report any suspected harm to the appropriate agency as required by law. 

Expected Codes of Conduct

1) Parents will be sober during their visit to provide for the best possible visit for their child. 

2) No foul language during the visit.

3) No shouting or yelling at anyone during the visit.

4) No threatening or engaging in corporal punishment or violence towards anyone during the visit.

5) A parent is not allowed to speak negatively about another parent during the visit. 

6) Parent and child must stay within sight and hearing range of the clinician at all times. 

7) The visiting parent will not be allowed to alter the child(s)/youth(s) appearance during a visit.  This includes but is not limited to haircuts, tattoos, body/ear piercing, dying hair etc. 

In cases of alleged sexual abuse to the participating child/youth the following must be adhered to:

1) Photographing, audiotaping and/or videotaping of the children/youth will not be permitted.

2) Physical contact such as but not limited to will be prohibited: lap sitting, hair coming, stroking, hand holding, hugging, kissing etc. 

3) Whispering, passing notes, hand signals or body signals will not be allowed. 

Gifts

1) Token gifts are permitted with the exception of birthdays or other traditional gift-giving holidays.  Small gifts are encouraged if there has been an unusually long time apart.  The clinician will monitor what is given for safety and security purposes.  The visiting parent must show the provider the gift before the exchange.  For this reason, unwrapped gifts are recommended.  If the occasion calls for the gift to be wrapped, choose to use gift bags and tissue paper as opposed to wrapping a gift in a traditional manner. 

2) Exchanges of gifts, money, cards etc will be inspected by the clinician to ensure there are no inappropriate   messages, it will be photographed and documented in order to provide verification of such to the assigned case worker. 

Reports and Documentation

1) Observation notes will be kept by the provider during each visit.  The clinician will also keep a record of all phone calls and other interactions related to the visitation case. 

2) The clinician requires that a copy of the court order be provided to the clinician in order for the clinician to ensure she is adhering to the requirements of the court order in order to assist the parent in completing their service plan. 

3) If a visit is terminated or if services are terminated for any reason, all parties (visiting parent, child/youth, resource parent, Child Welfare Case Worker) will be notified via written notice along with the reason for the termination. 

Terminating Services

The clinician reserves the right to refuse service, access, cancel or terminate a visit or all services if for any reason.  If the clinician feels threatened by the visiting parent, child, or any other party related to the case, if any of the parties violate the service agreement, or if it is assessed that continuing visits are no longer in the best interest of the child(ren)/youth, then the clinician can terminate services. 

Benefits of Visitation

• Studies show that ongoing visitation is the best predictor of reunification. 

Jimenez, Susanne Allison and Stooksbury, Lori Hai, "The utilization of parent-child visitations for reunification and stability among children and families" (2005). Theses Digitization Project. 2753. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2753 

• Ka Mana Services, LLC hopes to accelerate the reunification process by addressing fundamental issues that lead to the foster care placement including but not limited to: inappropriate parenting, unresolved trauma, anger issues and ineffective communication.

• Participation in therapeutic supervised visitations demonstrates to the Court that the parent is committed to reunification. 

Pricing

Basic Rate: $150/hour - (Initial/Individual Assessments, Video Visits, In-person visits)

Travel: $1.50/mile if the visit requires travel outside of the Hilo District. 

Expert Testimony in Court Cases:  $300 minimum, $150 each hour after 2 hours of being at Court (Virtually or In-Person).  Time is counted from the time the court hearing is supposed to start until the time the clinician is excused.  The rate is the same whether the clinician appears in person or through video. 

It is important to note, that this type of service is not a covered insurance benefit, and therefore not billable through medical insurance. 

Method of payment will be discussed with the party that is required to pay for the service according to the Court Order. 

Services are only provided on the island of Hawaii. 

Referrals

Referrals can be sent via email to: malie@kamanaservices.net

Referrals must include the following:

1) Name and contact info of the visiting parent

2) Name and contact info of the child(ren)/youth participating in the visit

3) Name and contact info of the resource caregiver.

4) Copy of the court order, ordering therapeutic supervised visits. 

5) A brief summary of the allegations. 

Once a referral is received, it will be reviewed for appropriateness.  If the referral is accepted the clinician will contact the assigned Child Welfare Case Worker and send the necessary intake forms. Payment will be discussed at this time, as Child Welfare Services will normally be the payor source for this service. Payment must be secured before services can start.