General Information

Q.

What is supervised access?

Q.

What is supervised access?

A.

When parents separate, access visits with children may be a problem. Sometimes, difficulties arise at the time of the exchange of the child between parents or between a parent and a relative, such as a grandparent. Other times there may be concerns about the visits themselves. Our supervised access program, called Access for Parents and Children in Ontario (APCO), provides a setting where visits and exchanges can take place under the supervision of trained staff and volunteers. Upon request, we also provide the court and lawyers with copies of our observation reports.

Q.

What is a “custodial party”? And what is a “non-custodial party”?

Q.

What is a “custodial party”? And what is a “non-custodial party”?

A.

The custodial party is the person who has permanent or temporary custody of the child. In other words, the custodial party is the person who the child lives with and who is responsible for the child. Usually the custodial party is a parent, but sometimes a custodial party is a grandparent or some other person. The non-custodial party is usually the child’s other parent, who does not reside with the child. Custody of a child may be as determined by a court order or as agreed by parents in a separation agreement.

Q.

What is a “supervised visit”? And what is a “supervised exchange”?

Q.

What is a “supervised visit”? And what is a “supervised exchange”?

A.

Access for Parents and Children in Ontario helps with two kinds of visits between the non-custodial party and the child or children.

  • In a supervised visit, a non-custodial party visits with his or her children at one of our access centres. The visit is supervised by the centre’s staff.

  • In a supervised exchange, the custodial party brings the child to one of our access centres. The non-custodial party picks the child up and they have an unsupervised visit away from the centre. Such visits are called “exchange visits.” Then the non-custodial party brings the child back to the access centre, where the child is returned to his or her custodial party.

Q.

What are the objectives of supervised access?

Q.

What are the objectives of supervised access?

A.

  • To provide a safe, neutral, and child-focused setting for a child to be exchanged between the custodial and the non-custodial party or for visits between a child and the non-custodial party

  • To provide the court and/or lawyers with factual observation notes about the participants’ use of our service

  • To ensure the safety of all participants, including staff

  • To provide trained staff and volunteers who are sensitive to the needs of the children

Q.

Who provides funding for the program?

Q.

Who provides funding for the program?

A.

Access for Parents and Children in Ontario is a not-for-profit organization that is funded by the Ministry of the Attorney General and operated by a volunteer Board of Directors.

Q.

Who supervises visits?

Q.

Who supervises visits?

A.

Visits and exchanges are supervised by our staff members. In addition to specific training for our program, our staff members have a relevant educational background such as a diploma in social services or early childhood education, or a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology, sociology, crime and deviance, social work or human resources.

Q.

What are the requirements for using the access program? 

Q.

What are the requirements for using the access program? 

A.

Each client must have either a court order or a separation agreement. If parties agree for exchanges to take place at the access centre, our program strongly recommends that parties obtain a court order with the judge’s signature on it.

Q.

Without a court order in my hand can I still use the access program?

Q.

Without a court order in my hand can I still use the access program?

A.

No, all clients must provide the program with a court order or a signed separation agreement that specifies all terms and condition of your access.

Q.

What makes a client eligible for services?

Q.

What makes a client eligible for services?

A.

  • Having proper documents such as a court order or a signed separation agreement

  • Paying the program fees

  • Agreeing with the policies and procedures of the access centres

  • Approval of the access program

  • Centre availability and having proper resources

Q.

How long can I use the access program?

Q.

How long can I use the access program?

A.

Parties can use our program for as long as they require our services and until the child turns 18 years old.

Q.

Does the access program ever deny service? 

Q.

Does the access program ever deny service? 

A.

Yes, our program reserves the right to refuse, cancel, or terminate visits if any of the following occurs: 

  • A violation of the service agreement

  • Parties decide to withdraw from our program for their own reasons

  • The non-custodial party misses three consecutive visits without any notice

  • The non-custodial party arrives under the influence of alcohol

  • A children’s aid society becomes involved in the case  OR a file is presently active with the society.

Q.

What gives the access program authority to decline a case?

Q.

What gives the access program authority to decline a case?

A.

Section 34 (2) of the Children's Law Reform Act provides that when a court directs a person, a children’s aid society or other body to supervise access, it is subject to that person's or body's consent.

Q.

What if I am a new-comer to Canada and cannot speak English?

Q.

What if I am a new-comer to Canada and cannot speak English?

A.

Our program will make arrangements for a translator to attend each visit. Costs will be discussed and reviewed with both parties and their lawyers.

Q.

When scheduling visits, do you follow the court order? If not, how does the access centre decide how often and how long visits will be?

Q.

When scheduling visits, do you follow the court order? If not, how does the access centre decide how often and how long visits will be?

A.

Due to high demand, our program is unable to always follow the terms and conditions of court orders. Visits are scheduled according to the availability of the access centres. We can only offer a single one-hour visit per week or a two-hour visit on alternate weekends or evenings. We cannot offer service where more than four hours of visits per month are required, unless the parties agree in writing for the visits to take place at two different centres, subject to available space.

Q.

What if the custodial party moves farther from his or her assigned access center?

Q.

What if the custodial party moves farther from his or her assigned access center?

A.

The party can easily request a transfer to another location of our program. Please note that a transfer is subject to available space

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