The best interests of the kid will always be considered by family court judges in Michigan. And, we have constantly made it a point to put this across when we talk about child custody and supervised visitation or parenting time.

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It’s generally accepted that a child’s greatest interests lie in maintaining a relationship with both parents. However, a judge may occasionally decide that the child’s time spent with one parent should only be monitored. Supervised visitation may be necessary if a parent has a problem with substance abuse, a violent past, a mental illness, or another condition that could make unsupervised visits dangerous for the child.

In this article we will be using visitation and parenting time interchangeably.

The court basically decides on the question of who is qualified to supervise the parenting time and where the parenting time will happen. The rules are different for each type of supervised parenting time.

What You Need to Know About Supervised Visitation with Friend or Relative

In the Michigan Parenting Time Guideline, this is called a Third Party Supervision. The court may first allow visits where a friend or relative is serving as the main supervisor. Only if the court finds that the parent does not immediately constitute a threat to the child will this option be considered. With this option, the court can rule that the supervisor must always be present or make eye contact with the patient throughout the whole visit.

Third-party supervised parenting time is defined as parenting time that is being looked over by a friend, relative, or other individual determined by the court. Third-party supervision may be advocated in circumstances where monitoring is necessary but agency intervention is not.

Third-party supervision should, in general, only be used in connection with a plan for the full restoration of an unsupervised plan within a certain time frame or under certain conditions. If the circumstances call for more extensive or prolonged supervision, agency supervision may be able to manage the case more successfully.

The third party must be chosen with the parents’ permission, be of legal parental age, and be capable of supervising the parenting time. Parenting time supervision must have the consent of the person who will be in charge of it.

The basic objective of third-party supervision is protection, not rehabilitation. Protecting the child from any harm that might be caused by the specific reasons for supervision is the aim in this type of supervision.

Depending on the purpose of the order for supervision, the supervision may be minimal, such as stipulating that parenting time only occur at a particular location, such as one of the grandparents’ homes, or it may be more extensive, such as stipulating that parenting time occur in the immediate presence of a third-party supervisor or in the constant visual presence of a supervisor.

What You Need to Know About Supervised Visitation With Agency Oversight

Michigan Parenting Time Guideline, refers to this as Agency Parenting Time. Agency supervision, which only allows the parent to spend time with the child at a family services facility, is the most restrictive sort of monitoring. After careful inspection, the parent will only be permitted to make physical contact with the child when they approach on their own. Only in cases when the parent poses a serious risk to the child’s welfare can this decision be made.

Organizations offering supervised parenting time services ought to hire qualified people who can uphold the laws intended to protect the child.

Typically, parenting time oversight organizations view the following as the absolute minimum standards. The agency may create additional rules as necessary to achieve the objectives of the specific instance:

[a] Unless otherwise authorized by the agency, any physical contact between the kid and the parent in specific circumstances, such as child sexual abuse, must be initiated by the child or with the child’s verbal consent.
[b] All interactions between the kid and the parent using their parenting time must be visible to and audible to the supervisor.
[c] The parent is not permitted to bring up allegations of abuse with the child or attempt to elicit information from the child that would jeopardize the child’s or other family members’ safety or wellbeing.
[d] Only when authorized and assisted by the supervisor should a discussion of adult issues, such as legal processes or parental disagreements, take place with the kid.
[e] The supervisor must be consulted in advance if the parent want to give the child a present.
[f] In order for parenting time to take place in the child’s preferred language and the parent exercising parenting time, efforts should be made to cooperate with interpreters as needed.
[g] The other parent, their relationships, or the other parent’s activities should not be discussed, disparaged, or questioned in front of the child.
[h] Except as agreed upon in advance between the parent and the agency, future living arrangements or modifications to parenting time should not be discussed with the kid.
[i] Use of the child to communicate with the other parent or member of the family is not permitted.
[j] It is inappropriate to ask a child where they reside or where they attend school.
[k] All staff instructions and requests must be complied with by parents.
[l] Parenting time should only take place in spaces that have been set aside for it.
[m] Other than the parent, no one else should be present at the center or at a location where they can see the center without prior arrangement and approval from the center.
[n] Both bringing drugs or alcohol to the agency and having a parent show up while under the influence are prohibited.
[o] Use of technology and phones should be planned out and closely supervised.

What You Need to Know About Supervised Visitation With Therapist Supervision

This is referred to as Therapeutic Parenting Time in the Michigan Parenting Time Guideline. The court may also order visits to take place at a therapist’s office. The therapist can assist the parent and child there in fortifying their relationship. Parents who have been allowed only supervised visitation may petition for a modification of the order after they can show that the problems that led to the court’s judgment have been resolved.

The following are examples of orders requiring clinically monitored parental time:

[a] The goals of the service;
[b] The specialist or specialists who will help the family;
[c] Those in attendance at sessions;
[d] The limitations on how each expert may communicate with the court and the parents in confidence;
[e] The acceptable methods for contact between the parties;
[f] Who is responsible for paying for the therapy’s costs;
[g] An agreed-upon process for terminating therapy or switching to a new therapist or family counselor.

Selecting a specialist who is willing to work with the court is essential because this may require providing frequent updates and/or testifying in court throughout the course of therapy. The Friend of the Court (FOC) or family court in your area might be able to recommend regional authorities.

Are there rules for supervised visitation in Michigan? Apparently there are and they are specific to each of the different types of supervised visitation.

You may want to get over supervised visitation all together. Read our article, “How To Go From Supervised Visitation To Unsupervised Visitation In Michigan” for possibilities.

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Goldman & Associates Law Firm is here to with information about Child Custody and Divorce in the State of Michigan.