What are the Procedures and Law on Supervised Visitation in a Paternity, Divorce or Legal Separation Case in 2014 in San Diego?

Under the California Family Law Code, if there is detriment to a child or children based upon safety, welfare or health, the San Diego Superior Court Judge can order visitation which is supervised. The supervision can be a professional [explained in more detail below] or can be non professional. For many cases, the preference is for non professional, in most cases, due to the costs which many San Diego Judges order each parent to pay one half. As the cost can be $50 per hour or higher for a professional supervisor, even eight hours per month can result in an additional $400 in costs. In addition, scheduling can be most difficult as well. Once of the advantages of having a professional supervisor is that they can prepare a report to the Court and also make sure no false allegations are made during the visitation. For many families, using a non professional supervisor is the better option however there needs to be either (1) agreement or (2) court order. Also, many family members do not want to be “in the middle” and many friends and co workers may feel the same way. Supervised visitation is not the “norm” for parenting orders.

The Judicial Council of the State of California has developed standards for supervised visitation providers for qualification. The use of the term "provider" shall include any individual who functions as a monitor for visitation. This can include supervised visitation centers such as Hannah’s House in San Diego. A link for your ease of use is provided below.

http://www.hannahs-house.org/

Some of the considerations for qualification of approved supervised providers are below:

• The provider's education, experience, training and other qualifications
• The ratios of children per supervisor which include safety and security concerns
• Whether there is any conflict of interest
• Disclosure and maintenance of records, including, but not limited to, policies for confidentiality
• Procedures for delineation of terms and conditions, screening and termination of services for supervised visitation
• Procedures for extenuating or emergency situations
• Guidelines and orientation for cases in which there are allegations of child abuse, substance abuse, domestic violence or other special circumstances
• The legal responsibilities and obligations of supervisors

The Judicial Council of the State of California consults with visitation centers, fathers' groups, mothers' groups, Judiciary, the State Bar of California, Family Court Services [mediation for parenting plan] children's advocacy groups, domestic violence prevention groups and others which it regards as necessary in connection to formulate and enforce these standards. The intent of the California Legislature is that the safety of children, parents, and visitation supervisors be a precurser to providing visitation services. Once safety is assured, then the standard is the best interest of the child per California Family Law Code Section 3011 among others.

The law firm of Doppelt and Forney, APLC has experience with supervised visitation monitors both individual as well as corporate. Coordinating is time consuming and it is important to coordinate well in advance for scheduling of supervised visitation. The law firm would be pleased to offer you a confidential and free in-person or virtual consultation up to 30 minutes at their office.