What Does Supervised Visitation Mean?

Within child custody matters, sometimes a court will require visitation as a term of granting supervision to a parent or guardian. There are different types of visitation but one that is possible in Pennsylvania courts is supervised visitation.  

Supervised visitation is basically how it sounds; visitation that is supervised. Courts typically issue a custody order requiring supervised visitation in situations where the court feels the child may be endangered without the added supervision.

Though this is a fairly broad concept, courts typically lay out additional provisions to meet the supervised requirement.

Courts start by issuing a custody order in which a party may only be permitted to see the child or children under additional supervision. If this is the case, the court will state in its order grounds for meeting this requirement.

Supervised visitation may include a third party or other chaperone. The court may decide who this other person is and then require that person be present anytime the child is in the presence of that party.  Supervision may be line-of-sight and/or within hearing distance.

In other instances, both parties to the child custody agreement may unanimously decide on a person to be present during supervised visits.

In different situations and where the court sees fit, these supervised visitations may have to occur at a visitation center. A visitation center is where the party specified in the custody agreement goes to visit the child. This location then provides for a safe space for the party and the child to meet to ensure the child is completely safe.

The court wants children to have a relationship with their parents and makes every attempt to ensure this is done safely. Visitation requirements can provide for children and their parents to still have a relationship without putting the children in harm's way.

Sometimes a court may grant an order requiring supervised visitation on a temporary or interim basis.  Courts may amend the order to allow for unsupervised visitation if they feel it applies to the situation and the child will remain safe. Additionally, courts may amend orders to take away visitation or require any meetings take place at a visitation center if they feel the child would benefit from more protection.