Children’s supervised contact
Children’s Supervised Contact service in Brisbane Queensland
LifeCare operates the largest private Children’s Supervised Contact service in Queensland (established in 2007).
All of our supervisors are tertiary qualified with extensive experience. Our contact supervisors receive regular training in the area of child protection, family law, domestic and family violence and child development.
Supervised Contact Opening Hours
We’re open 7 days per week, 365 days of the year, from 8:00am-6:00pm.
(Please note: our reception may be unattended during these hours. Please contact us to arrange an appointment).
Supervised Contact Intake Interviews
All relevant carers and/or parents of the child/children must first attend an intake interview with the Manager of the Service prior to partaking in any supervised Service.
This intake may be completed in person or over the phone (if there are extenuating circumstances).
Once intake interviews are completed and all participants have been assessed as suitable to participate, and our Service Agreement has been signed, a schedule of visits/changeovers is created by the Manager in accordance with Centre availability, Court Orders and/or parties’ availability.
Supervised Contact Visits
Visits can occur either on-site or off-site, if appropriate. In the event that supervision is Court Ordered, LifeCare consultants pro-actively endeavour to ensure the visits proceed.
The role of the supervisor is to facilitate the changeover between the resident parent and the non-resident parent and then observe and take notes about the parties’ interaction, what is said, done and observed.
The supervisor does not provide suggestions, direct support or intervene – unless the parent/adult fails to comply with the Service Agreement or does/says something contrary to the welfare of the child.
Supervised contact is, in its simplest form, a preventative monitoring and recording service.
Interactive Supervised Contact
Interactive supervised contact involves a highly experienced and skilled supervisor engaging with all parties in a therapeutic manner. The nature of engagement varies and is influenced by the circumstances leading up to the provision of this service.
If there has been a period of estrangement, the supervisor acts as a kind of intermediary between the child and adult. A child often feels more comfortable engaging with a skilled child therapist than a parent who they have not seen for some time. This is especially the case where the child has, for whatever reason, a negative opinion of that parent. Therapeutic supervisors are trained in building a bridge between the parent and child and, most importantly, in ensuring the child is emotionally supported throughout the visit.
If the parenting ability of a parent has been questioned, therapeutic supervisors provide in vivo direction and actively guide the parent around appropriate, child-friendly responses and behaviour. They will directly intervene if a parent says or does something – even unknowingly, that is not appropriate in some way.
After the visit, the supervisor will provide clear feedback about the visit and may even suggest changes to subsequent visits and/or details of courses/interventions that a parent and/or child might benefit from.
Supervised Changeovers
Our changeover service facilitates the movement of a child between households without the adults having direct contact with each other.
The process for changeovers is that the non-resident parent arrives at the centre 10-15 minutes prior to the changeover and the resident parent arrives at the scheduled time to either drop off or pick up the child/children with a LifeCare supervisor present assisting with the transition.
Report Writing
The parties involved, the Court and/or legal representatives can request that LifeCare provide a report based on the observations of the supervised contact services.
Unless specifically court ordered, such reports do not provide an assessment of the contact services or recommendations regarding future services.
Children’s Supervised Contact Fees
Life caring thoughts
With over four decades working in the helping professions, in a range of contexts associated with psychological wellbeing, it is not surprising that Susan is frequently asked by colleagues, students, supervisees and clients to share her insights and knowledge in a more accessible way. So, here it is. This blog will provide regular commentary on various aspects of Susan’s work.
