May is Supervised Visitation Month. At our Stand Up for Kids event, we had the honor of hearing from a mother whose family was served by our supervised visitation program, Parent to Child. For her, supervised visitation represented safety and stability, in the wake of domestic abuse. When people think of supervised visitation it often brings up images shaped by courtroom dramas. But the reality is far more nuanced and compassionate. She ended her testimony with: “If the courts are going to give unsafe parents access to their children, then we need to provide a safe place for those interactions to happen.” Supervised visitation is not a punishment - it’s a tool designed to keep children safe and provide space for families to develop healthy parent-child relationships.
Her story began over 10 years ago when, shortly after they were married, her partner said: “Your time to ask me questions is over.”
The power dynamic continued to shift over the years, as they welcomed a child and eventually, another. Her partner isolated her, manipulated her, engaged in emotional, physical and other forms of abuse - breaking her arm during a custody exchange, when she was holding their three year old child. It was after this incident that the court ordered supervised visits for her partner and their children.
As she told her story, she reflected back on this time in their life as a time when she felt peace. She shared that her children still talk about their time at Canopy Center and how much they enjoyed their time here. “My kids felt like they were at home.” She went on to say that they felt safe, their only job was to play.
That is the essence of Parent to Child. It is the system working to protect children and preserve the potential for parents to heal and grow. Parent to Child bridges the gap between separation and connection, risk and resilience. This Supervised Visitation Month we hope her story helps change the narrative - supervised visitation is a way forward, it’s healthier family systems and the right of every child to feel safe and loved.
Canopy Center is a proud member of the Supervised Visitation Network (SVN) - which establishes standards, promotes education and advances professionalism in the field of supervised visitation.
