Visitation Program


Children, even when they have been abused, love their parents and want to see them, and they long to go home to what is familiar. They worry about their parents and their siblings, and constantly wonder when they will see them again; they want to have some assurance that they are okay.

The Child Welfare Act now mandates that states provide visitation to separated families.  Research shows that maintenance of family ties through meaningful visitation is the most important factor to successful family reunification.   

The goal of Aviva’s visitation program, for children in Child Protective Services care, is to provide foster children and their families with safe, consistent, happy and enjoyable opportunities to visit together.  Visits may take place in the CPS offices or in a public place such as the zoo, a park or a restaurant and, in some cases, in the family home. Activities during visits usually involve playing games, reading books or other activities families enjoy when they are together.  Donations contributed to the Abused Children’s Fund at Aviva often help enhance visits by providing families with money for opportunities and activities they otherwise could not afford.

Visit supervisors are trained paid staff who transport children to and from their visits, supervise the visit while helping parents interact appropriately with their children, and document what happens during the visits for the case manager and the court.  Visit supervision is a very rewarding experience.  Aviva employs visit supervisors who come from many different life experiences.  Some are students looking for experience in the field of social services in preparation for future careers. Some are retirees seeking new experiences that are different from their previous careers. Others are stay-at-home mothers desiring part time, flexible work. A few work in visit supervision as a second job.  All desire to make a difference in their community and are concerned about the welfare of children and their families.

"Being a Visitation Supervisor for Aviva Children Services is extremely rewarding because we feel we are making a difference in someone’s life. We love picking up the children from their foster homes and seeing how excited they are when they see us because they know that they are going to get to see their parents. The children are safe with us and we like them to know we are someone they can trust.  We love to build relationships with them while driving to the visit -- like asking how their week has gone and what they would like to do at the visits with their parents. We enjoy seeing the parents that really want to try and are doing everything they can to get their children back. It makes the visits a lot of fun when the children and parents both want to be there. Being a visit supervisor is incredibly rewarding and we love every minute of it."
                                      Katie Barry and Julie Hagan

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