Information For Parents
Supervised Contact
Supervised Contact - Info
We appreciate how difficult it is when parents separate and there are disputes which impact on your children. Aidhour has been supervising contact between parents and their children since 1998 and we have many contact supervisors who have been working in the field for many years prior to this. Usually, our supervised contact services are commissioned by Solicitors for parents who are seeking to establish safe and regular arrangements between themselves and their children in the longer-
term.
DISCREET AND PROFESSIONAL
Supervised contact involves parents and their Solicitors agreeing venues and timings for contact
between themselves. You will select who is going to be most suitable to undertake the supervision
from among the CVs we provide of professionals that work for us. We ask parents to provide their
full contact details, to provide details of their children and any special needs they may have, and we
ask you to agree to share any areas likely to cause disputes or which may impact on the safety of
your children.
Our supervisors will then contact you to introduce themselves, to discuss any concerns you may
have and to agree the fine details of arrangements. This provides an opportunity to talk about
practicalities such as how handovers and comfort breaks will be managed, along with anything that
will support children to enjoy and feel safe during their contact time. This helps put parents at ease
in order to make the contact as comfortable as possible.
KEEPING CHILDREN’S NEEDS AND WISHES AT THE CENTRE
During contact, supervisors are focused on making the experience for children as enjoyable as
possible. This may involve stepping back and allowing you and your child’s bond to take its natural
course, it may involve active participation in play, or it may involve intervening to support you and
help relationships to flourish. Less frequently, it may involve intervening to comfort a child who is
distressed or negotiating a cordial ending to a session which a child is not enjoying. At all times
contact supervisors expect to stay close to the parent whose contact is supervised and to be able to
see and hear all their interactions with children.
Contact supervisors are not Nannies, and the care of children remains the responsibility of parents.
However, supervisors are available to advise and support parents to help ensure children get the
most from their contact time.
Following contact, our supervisors write a report as agreed at the point when the service is
commissioned. Most of our contact supervisors are qualified Social Workers with experience of
writing reports and giving evidence in court. We typically allow one hour for the contact supervisor
to write an account of what happened during contact. These reports are usually shared with both
parents and their Solicitors. Further reports may be commissioned as required.
Depending on circumstances and contact supervisor availability, we may be able to provide contact
supervision in more unusual circumstances. If you have a request which doesn’t fit with what has
been described above, please get in touch and we can discuss how we can help.