About Supervised Visitation

If a parent is considered dangerous because of criminal activity, then sometimes that individual may not be allowed to spend time with his or her children unless ther4e is a supervisor present. This is called supervised visitation and is an arrangement that is mandated and regulated by the state court. In California, this is an arrangement that is created to protect the best interest of children who are currently the subject of a custody or visitation matter in a family court. Sometimes, a judge will order that a child only has contact with parents when a neutral third party is there. The third party is usually one that is appointed by the court. Oftentimes social workers can fulfill this role, or the courts may appoint another individual. Typically the party that is involved in the supervised visitation cannot be biased, so the courts rarely choose a family member of friend of one of the partners to take on this role.

There are a variety of reasons why a judge may insist that an individual only receive supervised visitation privileges. According to the California Courts, there are times that parents are allowed supervised visitation so that they can address a specific issue at hand, or so that they can help to reintroduce an apparent and a child after a long absence. There are also times that one of these meetings will be organized so that a child can meet a parent after there is no existing relationship between them (as in the event of an adoption.) If there have been allegations of domestic violence, child abuse, or neglect but parents still wants to see his or her child, this may be another reason why there would be a supervised visitation put in place. If a parent has a mental illness, or there is a possibility that the parent could abduct the child, then this also qualifies as a legitimate reason for a supervised visitation arrangement. If you want more information about supervised visitation situations, then contact a Los Angeles family attorney at Cleary & Green today!