State Child Welfare Policy Guide: Part of the Policy Matters Series

3.2 Family visitation

Requiring quality, face-to-face contact between parents and their children in foster care is a crucial way to maintain family connections and promote timely reunification.  The primary goal of scheduled visitation between parents and their children in foster care is the maintenance of parent-child and other family attachments and reduction in children’s sense of abandonment.  Researchers have found that parent-child visiting has positive impact on children’s well-being while in care, length of stay in care, and placement outcomes, particularly family reunification.  A study of children 12 years old or younger who entered foster care concluded that when mothers visited frequently the child was ten times more likely to be reunified. [i]   Children of incarcerated parents are especially vulnerable to issues of abandonment, separation anxiety, and trauma – in large part due to prolonged and limited access to their parents.   

Effective child welfare agency policies define the issues that must be considered when developing a parent-child visitation plan, including who participates, where and when visits occur, and visitation rights and responsibilities.  Frequent, quality child-family visitation must be facilitated at convenient times including nights and weekends and at community-based, family-friendly locations.  More than half of the 37 state agencies that responded to a survey on visitation policies identify where visits should take place.  Consistent with evidence regarding effective visitation, they emphasize the importance of visiting in the least restrictive, most homelike setting possible. 

When family reunification is the goal, Illinois policy prioritizes visitation in the family home.  Illinois and Massachusetts also provide visitation in early childhood care and education settings.  Oregon’s policy requires that consideration be given to the child’s school schedule and to the parents’ work and treatment obligations. [ii]   

Enhanced visitation programs are especially important for reducing the negative impacts of parental incarceration.  The Family Reunification Program is a collaborative effort among St. Rose Youth & Family Center, Inc. (a nonsectarian, nonprofit organization), the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare, six Wisconsin correctional institutions, and other state and local agencies.  Components include regular parent-child visitation with transportation for children to and from prison facilities where parents reside; age-specific support groups for children conducted after each visit; facilitated support groups for incarcerated parents to discuss issues raised through visitation; and a Girl Scout program that “bonds” together girls and their incarcerated mothers through scouting activities.[iii] 

Policy Options:   States can promote family visitation by adopting 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 of the following policies:

·         Visitation is provided at times convenient to the child and parents’ schedules.

·         Visitation is provided within other family friendly settings

·         Visitation is provided within early childhood care and education settings

·         Visitation is provided for all children in foster care with incarcerated parents at family-friendly settings within correctional facilities and supplemented by specialized supports

·         State has standards of minimal weekly visitation between children and parents.