The following text is copied from the Ministry of the Attorney General's website:
When parents separate, access visits with children may be a problem. Sometimes, difficulties arise at the time of the exchange of the child between the parents, or between the parent and a relative, such as a grandparent. Other times, there may be concerns about the visits themselves.
The Supervised Access Program offers separated families a way to deal with some of these problems. Supervised access centres provide a setting where visits and exchanges can take place under the supervision of trained staff and volunteers.
Ministry-funded supervised access centres provide fully supervised on-site visits in a group setting and supervised exchanges when access occurs off-site.
The objectives are to:
- To provide a safe, neutral and child-focused setting for visits between a child and non-custodial parent or other family member.
- To ensure the safety of all participants, including staff.
- To provide trained staff and volunteers who are sensitive to the needs of the child.
- To provide reports of factual observations about the participants’ use of the service.