A Collaborative Guide to Supervised Access

1. A Collaborative Guide to Supervised Access

2. Access Putting the Pieces Together The Courts Family Child Foster Family CAS In the Best Interests of the Child

3. ACCESSStakeholder Opportunities for… Parent • Bonding • A Chance of a +ve Reunion • Chance to see their child is OK • A Sense of ‘Mattering’ to their child • Demonstrating enhanced parenting CHILD • Identity integration • Attachment relationships • A Better Sense of Belonging • Knowing that their family is OK • A Chance of a +ve Reunion • OR Permission to move on • Clear answers Foster Parent CAS • Help Child Heal • Help Child Deal with mixed loyalty issues • Respond to child’s anxiety & questions around family/ access • Observe • Assess • Communicate • Teach • Impact the Healing Process R Pagnello

4. Planning for ACCESSGuidelinesFor the Best Interests of the Child • Some Factors to Consider in Preparing a Comprehensive Plan for Access: • The Individual Child’s Needs, Attachment & Developmental Levels • The Parent’s Capacity to Participate in a plan to Develop ‘Good Enough’ Parenting Behaviour • The Severity of Maltreatment or Reason for the Child being in Care • The Permanency Plan & Concurrent Plans • The Quality of Access that has Already Taken Place Least Level of Supervison • Children’s needs and parent behaviours change – access plans must be flexible to allow for this movement • Move up the hierarchy once the parent improves and can meet child’s needs • If the situation deteriorates significantly, prepare to return to court to request that the order be altered R Pagnello

5. Planning for Effective ACCESS The Continuous Improvement Cycle PLAN • Establish Permanency Planning Vision • Assess/Re-assess • Parent’s attitude & capacity • Benefits to the child • Caregiver’s attitude & capacity • Plan to communicate logistics for upcoming visits DO ADJUST • Observe interactions, reactions & opportunities for connections • Reinforce parent’s behaviour “Catch them doing something right” • Assess the impact on the visit for the child & adults • What needs to be altered to make the access more effective? • Involve everyone as much as possible in the pending changes • Communicate the rationale for the changes CHECK • De-brief immediately with the child, the parents & the caregivers • Assess how the visit went • Assess the aftermath for the child, caregivers and parents R.Pagnello – 2002

6. Continuum for Choosing the Access Setting The Default Option is the Natural Home Lowest Risk Threshold Least Intrusive Natural Family Home without Supervision Chi ld Safety & Best Interests Community Setting without Supervision Intrusiuveness Family Home with Supervision by Extended Family or Family Friend Community Setting with Supervision Foster Family Home with Supervision Agency Building or other Institution with Supervision Most Intrusive Highest Risk Threshold Where would you want to visit your child? RPagnello