Supervised Visitation Law and Legal Definition
Supervised visitation may be ordered by a court to minimize visitation-related conflict between custodial and non-custodial parents, to support the development of parenting skills, to assist in rebuilding a healthy parent-child relationship, and to prevent child abuse. Supervised visitation often takes place in a neutral location under the supervision of paid staff. An adult other than the custodial parent must be present at all times during the visit. The adult may be known or unknown to the child, and may be someone agreed upon by the parents or appointed by the court. In any case, the adult must be approved by the court ordering the supervised visitation.
Supervised visitation may be used in situations where the non-custodial parent:
- is working on improving his/her parenting skills;
- may have a drug or alcohol abuse problem;
- has been abusive or has had trouble controlling anger; or
- may have been involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with the child.
