Reintroducing The Child Access Center

By Sara Planthaber, Esquire Staff Attorney, Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania

For the Children: Access to Supervised Child Custody Services in Chester County

Emily* entered the red brick building on Gay Street in West Chester where her three-year-old daughter, Cory*, was playing. Cory ran to hug Emily, and began chattering about her afternoon. Cory had visited with her father, Liam*, for a couple of hours. She adores her father, and doesn’t understand why she hasn’t seen him for so long. She doesn’t know about Liam’s criminal charges for drug possession, assault, and endangering the welfare of children, or about the Final Protection from Abuse Order which protects Emily and Cory. Cory only knows that, for two hours every Saturday afternoon, she is her father’s entire world.

Nearly all studies focused on the importance of parent/child contact have found that parent-child contact is a vital part of childhood development. Research has shown that children who spend more frequent or regular time with a non-custodial parent have fewer behavioral problems, lower levels of depression, and improved overall well-being.1

Conversely, the American Psychological Association cautions that the consequences of inadequate contact persist through adulthood. Those with less parental involvement reported more negative mental and physical health issues than those with more parental involvement.2

Sometimes, due to substance abuse, mental health problems, or other safety concerns, it is unsafe for a parent to be left unsupervised with their child. In those cases, the court can promote parental contact while ensuring the safety of the child by requiring a parent’s custody time be supervised. Chester County Hearing Officer Julia MalloyGood, who spent many years as a family law attorney and custody conciliator, points out that many of the cases necessitating supervision involve parental substance misuse. “Supervised custody provides children with a safe environment and allows parents, who are doing the right thing and working on whatever they’re struggling with, to continue seeing their children while they get help,” says Catherine Voit, a West Chester family law attorney.

*Names changed for privacy reasons.

1See, e.g., https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cb/im2002. pdf.

2 https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2004/03/parental-support.

3 23 Pa. C.S. § 5322(a) (2023).

4 Judge Platt’s initiative is consistent with national recognition of the issue. See 42 U.S.C. § 669b (2023) (requiring the Administration for Children and Families to provide program grants to states aimed at facilitating child contact with their non-custodial parent).

What is Supervised Physical Custody?

Supervised physical custody is defined by the Child Custody Act as “custodial time during which an agency or adult designated by the court or agreed upon by the parties monitors the interaction between the child and the individual with those rights.”3 The Child Custody Act authorizes the court to award supervised physical custody if it feels it will be in the best interest of the child.

In some cases, the parents have someone in their life to serve as a supervisor, like a trusted family member. In other cases, professional agencies are appointed to serve as the supervisor due to the unavailability or unwillingness of a suitable family member or friend.

In cases where professional supervision is needed, cost is a barrier. Professional supervision can cost more than $100/hour. Parents, in crisis themselves, often cannot afford this cost, especially over time. As Voit points out, “For some, supervision is a long-term arrangement, which can be cost-prohibitive for many people. But if supervision is the only relationship they have with their children, there has to be a resource available for them.”

What happens when there are significant safety concerns, and the parent requiring supervision is unable to afford professional supervision services? There lies a substantial, systematic gap, ultimately to the detriment of children who cannot see their non-custodial parent.

A Brief History of Free Custody Supervision in Chester County

Fortunately, in Chester County, we have a compassionate and dedicated legal community who, along with volunteers, created the West Chester Area Child Access Center (“WCACAC” or “Access Center”) as a solution to this substantial barrier.

Spearheading the effort to create WCACAC in 2006 was Chester County Family Court judge The Honorable Katherine B.L. Platt. “Judges and hearing officers were ordering that parents could only see their children if they were supervised. Family members and other ‘partisans’ may not be appropriate supervisors, plus it is a lot of pressure and responsibility on one person. If a parent needs supervision, it is easy to write that in an order, but making it happen is not so easy. . . . In essence, there was a vacuum created,” says Judge Platt.

To address the lack of accessible supervision resources,4 Judge Platt intensively researched models of effective supervised custody programs. She also met with the Children’s Rights Council (“CRC”), based in Washington D.C., which published a guide for operating a child access

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Continued from page 7 center. Using the CRC’s model, Judge Platt created our county’s first safe custody exchange program at the Church of the Holy Trinity in West Chester. Judge Platt arranged for CRC staff to train local volunteers, including members from the legal community.

In 2007, Access Center Director Sandra Fischler recruited volunteers and expanded services to include supervised custody on Saturday mornings. For the duration of its time at the church, the Access Center was entirely volunteer operated. Judge Platt reflects on the Access Center’s reception: “It was embraced by the community. The need was so great that we could not accommodate everyone who needed assistance.”

After nine years of diligent and committed assistance in running the Access Center, Sandra Fischler retired. Thankfully, Angela Smallwood, a therapist in West Chester, used her own practice and expertise to formalize the program into its current form. Specifically, she recruited college student volunteers who would not only provide free physical supervision, meaning being physically present but uninvolved in the physical interaction, but also therapeutic supervision, which is physical supervision with a professional trained to re-direct and teach parents how to appropriately respond to and interact with their children.5 The Access Center ceased operating in early 2022. Hearing Officer Julia Malloy-Good reflects on this time, saying “the [Center] would not have become what it is without Angela’s generosity and we want to express our sincere thanks for many years of service.”

Child Access Center Today

Like with any community resource, WCACAC needed to evolve to continue serving our community, especially once the previous Access Center model and space were no longer available. Nationally, incidences of violence infiltrated the news. Access Center leadership concluded that additional security was necessary to achieve the Center’s ultimate goal, i.e., to provide a safe place for children to interact with their parents. The current members of the Access Center’s Board (Doug Olshin, Rochelle Grossman, Cheryl McCallin, Randy Hess, Rachel Houseman, and Hearing Officer Malloy-Good) have worked tirelessly to re-develop the Access Center based on the community’s changing needs.

Fortunately, we live in a county that understands the need for children to have a safe place to interact with their parents. Hearing Officer Malloy-Good explained the objective of the new Access Center is to help each individual family meet its own goals. “Ultimately, we want every parent needing support to no longer require it. Every case will be different, but we want to foster a relationship and promote the child’s best interest in a safe way.”

County government has been supportive of the Access Center’s transformation from the beginning. “Chester County has always appreciated the benefits of programs such as WCACAC that are created to fulfill a need, and that, in this instance, can contribute to the wellbeing of both children and parents in a supervised visit situation,” said Chester County Commissioners’ Chair Marian Moskowitz. “This service has been well-researched and planned, is valued by our courts, and should continue.”

President Judge John Hall is very generously allowing the Center to operate out of the Chester County Justice Center to ensure a safe environment, and the Chester County Sheriff is providing security to provide peace of mind to participants. Now that the Center has overcome some logistical hurdles, the focus turns to the future. The Board is looking for a part-time director who will be responsible for the Center’s operation, including volunteer training. With the support of the Chester County legal community, the Access Center hopes to be operational as soon as possible.

Continuing the Volunteerism Tradition

Throughout its history, the Access Center’s success has relied on the generosity and commitment of community volunteers, and this current manifestation is no different. Specifically, its family capacity is dictated by the number of Visitation Monitors, who are responsible for creating a calm and happy environment for the children during the 2-3 hour period of custody. All volunteers will receive training and can sign up for as many shifts as they are able.

In expressing hope for the future of the Access Center, Judge Platt reflects that, “except for the extraordinary situation where a child’s physical or mental health is in danger by contact with a parent, I want to encourage safe contact between both parents and the child wherever possible.” The legal standard for custody law in Pennsylvania is what is in the best interest of the child. The hope and belief is that the legal community will continue the tradition of volunteerism to promote that best interest by creating a safe place for children to foster a healthy relationship with their parents.

If anyone is interested in volunteering, providing financial support, or for the Director job description, please contact Cheryl McCallin (cheryl@mccallinlaw.com).