How Long Supervised Visitation Lasts in California

What You Need to Know About How Long Supervised Visitation Lasts in California

Court orders for supervised visitations are subject to change based upon the discretion of a judge. Here’s everything you need to know about how long supervised visitation lasts in California.

In some cases, a judge in a custody/visitation proceeding will order that a child only have contact with a parent when a neutral third person is present during the visitation. This is often the case if there are issues regarding the child’s protection and safety with the parent in question. The court’s orders on supervised visitations are not indefinite, as they are subject to change depending on the court’s determination of the child’s welfare.

What is a Supervised Visitation?

Supervised visitation is a contact between a noncustodial party and one or more children in the presence of a neutral third person. California public policy holds that the state is required to protect the best interests of children whose parents have a visitation matter in family court.

When a child is in danger of harm the courts will require that a child only have contact with a parent when a neutral third person is present during visitation. A judge may order supervised visitation for many reasons, including, but not limited to:

To allow the visiting parent to address certain issues,
To help reintroduce a parent and a child after a long absence,
To help introduce parent and child if there is no relationship between them,
When there is a history of domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, or substance abuse,
When there are concerns of parental mental illness, or
When there is a parental threat of kidnap

Types of Supervised Visitations

Supervised visitations might look different on a case-by-case basis. Here are the different types of supervised visitations:

One-to-one visitation: the supervision of a single family by the provider during a scheduled visitation session
Group or multiple visitation: the supervision of multiple families or a group of families at one time during a scheduled visitation session
Facilitated or supportive visitation: supervision of a parent and child with an education skill-based approach designed to help strengthen the parent-child relationship during the supervised visitation session
On-site supervised visitation: visitation held directly on the premises of an organization’s facility
In-home visitation: visitation held in the home of a parent or relative
Telephone monitoring: supervision of the parent and child contact by telephone during a scheduled visitation
Virtual visitation: the supervised visitation of virtual contact between the parent and child

Duration of Supervised Visitations

The duration of a supervised visitation varies by each individual case. When a judge makes a supervised visitation order, they are required to include a case plan, to identify strategies for a parent/family to work toward non-supervised visitation. Supervised visits’ case plans typically include a plan for the parent/family to change their behaviors or conditions contributing to the risk of the child. It also includes a specific guide for the family to execute the strategies and a benchmark for the child social worker to measure the client’s progress for completing the outcomes.

A case plan has a written assessment of the child’s needs, and is always updated as the service needs of the child and family dictate (at least every 6 months). The case plan also includes how often the child social worker will visit the child. The initial case plan must be completed within 45 to 60 days of the in-person investigation, initial removal date, or the date of the dispositional hearing, whichever comes first. Supervised visitation may end if compliance with the case plan is done.

Contact Us

If you or a loved one have any more questions about how long supervised visitation lasts in California, contact us. Get your free consultation with one of our California Child Custody Attorneys today!