Family Visitation and Support Centers

About the Program

Category: Human Services (Best in Category)

Year: 2015

As part of Child Welfare Services, children are removed from their families under certain circumstances, and placed in foster care for safety reasons. When future reunification of such children with their families is part of their case plans, it is important to maintain ties between the children in foster care and their families. To maintain parent-child ties in preparation for reunification, San Bernardino County Children and Family Services (CFS) initiated and implemented the Family Visitation and Support Centers (FVSC) program in June 2013. The FVSC program provides children and families with enriching and lively visitation experiences in nine locations spread throughout San Bernardino County. The centers are family-friendly settings with flexible visitation hours and guidance from trained visitation coaches. The centers are equipped to provide comfort and safety to visiting children and relations. FVSCs also provide guidance to parents on how to interact appropriately with their children. There has been a growing increase in requests for the use of FVSCs to meet visitation requirements. From June 2013 to April 2014, 661 requests for the use of FVSCs were received. By March 2015, the number of such requests has risen to 1,942, indicating positive experience and satisfaction with the FVSC program.