VISIT MONITORS 

Why be a volunteer Visit Monitor? Children and families involved with Child Protective Services (CPS) need the support of their community.  One way the community can help is to ensure that visitation is available as often as possible.  Unfortunately, there are limited opportunities for visitation through CPS.  You can help children and families to have more frequent contact!

Purpose of Visitation  Visitation is an important service provided to children and families involved in the child welfare system.  It is an opportunity to repair, build, and maintain the parent-child relationship.  It is critical for children in foster care to see their families.  The more face-to-face contact children have, the better they perform in school and the more secure they feel.

What do volunteer Visit Monitors do?  Visitation monitors are present during the visits between the children and their families.  They document who participated in the visit, where it took place and the nature of the parent-child interaction.  If there are any concerns, the volunteers alert the CPS caseworker.

Who are the children and families?  When children cannot live safely with their family, they must be placed in foster care.  During that temporary placement, visits are arranged for the child and family.  The families have been carefully reviewed and selected as appropriate for a volunteer Visit Monitor.  These families have worked cooperatively with CPS and are progressing towards reunification.  The agency has determined that there are no safety concerns for the children during the visits.

Can I be a volunteer Visit Monitor?  Volunteers must be over age 21, be able to pass criminal and child protective services background checks and have access to transportation for themselves to the visitation site.  Volunteers must commit for 6-12 months and to 4 hours per week, during which they would monitor two families for 2-hours each.

Will I be prepared to be a Visit Monitor?  Absolutely!  Volunteers will be given free training to prepare them to monitor the visits.  The training is provided by Aviva Children Services.  It reviews the legal system, how to monitor visits and prepares volunteers to manage a variety of visitation situations.  In addition, a CPS employee will mentor new volunteers until they feel comfortable to monitor visits on their own.

How do I get started? Call Aviva Children Services at 327-6777, ext. 10 to get more information, schedule an appointment and register for the training.  If you continue on, you will be assigned to a specific CPS unit, and you will have the opportunity to observe a CPS Case Aide while s/he monitors the visit of the family to whom you will be assigned.