Safe Visitation program help families heal, thrive
WINONA, Minn. – Safe Visitation is a key program with Winona’s Family & Children’s Center (FCC) that serves Winona County but also other counties as needed.
According to Karrie Hahn, Director of Minnesota Programs, “The purpose of this program is to provide information to help FCC social workers to seek reunification of families the agency serves who have been reported to Winona County.”
Safe visitation is divided into County Based Services which visits provided after a referral from Child Protective Services through individual counties. FCC also provide Grant Based Services which are paid predominantly through a grant from VOCA (Victims of Crime Act) which provides services to experiencing domestic violence.
Esther (not her real name) and her daughter came to FCC as a referral from Child Protection due to neglect of her infant who was 4 months old at the time of referral. It appears that she just didn’t know what to do.
Her baby was born premature and had some special needs at birth. The father of Esther’s daughter left her alone to deal with the situation after she was born.
The client was very hesitant to work with any FCC programs. She told the supervisor at intake that she didn’t trust anyone. Esther is of African descent and all of her family still lives overseas, so language is a barrier. But she has learned quickly and communicates well.
Early on, she didn’t trust any services because the communication barrier left a great deal of misunderstanding. She was unable to follow through initially.
Esther has since told Eryn and Alice that she fully trusts the monitors and staff and has really enjoyed working with FCC and the Safe Visitation Program.
When FCC staff met Esther, her 4-month-old daughter weighed 8 pounds and was struggling. Esther began her trial home (her daughter was living with her full time while the county still had custody).
FCC staff has moved to only one check-in per week with Esther, and her case will most likely close very soon. Both mother and her daughter are very happy, healthy, and progressing. Since beginning with FCC in May 2022, Esther has completed her CNA certification and is in school to be an LPN.
Safe Visitation provides a wide range of visits from fully supervised visits where the child does not leave the supervision of the FCC Monitor to check-ins where the child is still living with their family but under the custody of Child Protection.
2022 Services provided through Winona’s Safe Visitation
- 70 children and 66 adults
- 1772 visits.
- Provides 45-70 visits per week
Visits take place at FCC, in the community, or in the client’s home based on what stage they are in their case. Staff also provides all transportation to and from visits. Families typically meet at FCC for more than a year and services can be provided multiple times per week for several hours at a time.
Supervised visits through this program mostly occur at FCC and provide staggered arrival and departure times for the families in conflict will not be in contact with each other. Safe exchanges are also provided through Safe Visitation for people with a custody order or a restraining order to have a safe neutral place to exchange their children for visits. These typically are held at FCC but occasionally happen in the community as well. The purpose of this program is to provide a safe environment for families to do visits and exchanges. Some of our clients have been with this program for multiple years.
Article originally appeared in Winona Daily News on June 5, 2023.
