Lutheran Care’s Children’s Contact Service provides a neutral place for the changeover of children between caregivers during a separation and a safe environment for children to have supervised and supported visits.
The colourful and welcoming space in the Barossa is brimful of toys and books, and specifically designed for children of all ages to play. It also provides information for client families regarding their children and referrals for services for supporting the whole family during separation.
In 2023/24, 469 sessions were delivered to families who engaged with the Children’s Contact Service at Lutheran Care.
One of those families that we supported was Tori’s*.
Tori is a child who was court ordered to attend supervised sessions with her non-residential parent (the parent Tori does not live with). Tori’s parents separated when Tori was a toddler. There were allegations of domestic violence in the parents’ relationship and the breakdown of the relationship resulted in both parties being unable to communicate independently.
The Children’s Contact Service built a rapport with Tori through age-appropriate play and provided the time for Tori to become comfortable with the team and learn about her likes and dislikes. We then began to talk to Tori about the service and started with simple questions to gauge what Tori understood about the service and why she was there. It was important that Tori understood that she could leave the visit at any time and it was a safe space.
Our team provided clear information and a walk through of processes and procedures with both Tori’s residential parent and non-residential parent respectively to support feelings of safety and understanding.
The outcomes from using the CCS service resulted in relationship building between Tori and her non-residential parent, as she took the time to become comfortable in their presence again. Tori’s non-residential parent was supported to allow Tori to get comfortable in their time.
Tori’s residential parent initially was very hesitant to move forward from supervised visits due to past experiences. Our team provided education on processes, referrals to appropriate supports and time to become comfortable with the next steps. After time, Tori’s residential parent was willing to move forward to the next step, supervised changeovers, in part due to these supports.
After confidently engaging with the service, following court directions and other referred services, the parties were able to move forward to supervised changeovers where Tori can now spend time with her non-residential parent outside of the service.
The Children’s Contact Service is available across the Barossa, Mid North and Yorke Peninsula regions.
For more information visit our website, email ccs@lutherancare.org.au or call our friendly team on (08) 8562 2688.
*Names have been changed