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BCIFV home >
Media Releases > December
17, 2001
For Immediate Release: December 17, 2001
Contact: Penny Bain at 604-669-7055 or 1 877-755-7055
or
pbain@bcifv.org or
www.bcifv.org
Media Release:
Problems
with Proposed Amendments to Divorce Act, Part VI:
Supervised
Visits Can Perpetuate the Violence
Amendments
to the Divorce Act (and provincial legislation governing
common-law relationships) must be specific regarding how supervised
visitation between non-custodial parents and children should
be undertaken. Currently, too many access visits are opportunities
for continued abuse.
For example, a judge
can order supervised visitation but choose a supervisor who
is sympathetic to or controlled by the abuser - such as a
family member or girlfriend - and allows him to behave inappropriately
or ask questions that will facilitate his continued harassment
of his ex-spouse. Alternatively, a judge can order visits
supervised by a home care worker who lacks training and therefore
misses inappropriate behaviour, or lacks knowledge of intervention
skills, or tries to intervene therapeutically when that is
not required.
Moreover, amendments
to the legislation must be backed up by sufficient resources
to provide proper supervision. There are several important
aspects to this, says Jane Grafton, coordinator of Fraserside
Community Services Supervised Visitation Program in New Westminster,
BC.
"Training is key,"
she says. "Supervisors need to understand what supervised
visitation is, and the effects of family violence on children.
They need to understand that while the role of the third party
is not therapeutic, it is also not necessarily neutral, and
they need to be familiar with intervention techniques."
A second key is the intake
process, she says. This must include face-to-face meetings
with each parent, during which a thorough history and risk
assessment are done, and rules, expectations, and limitations
are outlined. There must also be an orientation for the children.
The Fraserside program
is fortunate in having a secure facility in which to conduct
visits. The non-custodial parent is required to arrive 15
minutes prior to the scheduled visit. The custodial parent
enters the facility by another door, checks the children in
with the supervisor, and leaves. The process is reversed at
the end of the visit. Non-contact between the parents ensures
that there will be neither overt conflict nor subtle intimidation.
The facility allows for "loose" supervision, where
the supervisor may be on the same floor but not in the same
room, and "close" supervision. The supervisors only
intervene when necessary, such as to curtail inappropriate
discipline, and record their observations after the visit
in case they're needed in court.
Grafton has also supervised
off-site visits and believes this can be well done by properly
trained staff. But too often, off-site visits are supervised
by untrained workers. "People who are trained to be caregivers
shouldn't be thrown into supervised visitation," she
says. Off-site visits are also inappropriate in certain situations,
such as where there is a risk of flight.
Unfortunately, Fraserside's
secure facility is the only one in BC. "I know of one
excellent one in Manitoba, one in Saskatchewan - and 58 in
Ontario," she says. Why so many in a province in which
most social services have been decimated in recent years?
Where did they find the resources? With stark, almost painful
simplicity, Grafton explains, "You need someone in government
who is passionate about this issue."
This is the sixth in a series
of nine press releases. Next: Lessons from Down Under:
Experience in Australia and New Zealand provide point-counterpoint
information about what sort of divorce legislation protects
women and children from violence - and what doesn't. For more
information, call Penny Bain at 604-669-7055 or 1 877 755-7055,
email pbain@bcifv.org
or visit www.bcifv.org
Click here to go to the next media release
in this series on Family Violence and Custody & Access - December
20, 2001
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