Our supervised access program provides a safe, neutral, and child-focused setting for children to visit with their non-custodial parent. All visits and exchanges take place under the supervision of trained staff and volunteers. Our job is to ensure that the visit is safe for the child(ren). We can hear what is said and write a brief, neutral summary of the visit. We will intervene when comments are made that contravene our program guidelines.
Although our agency is also a Private Investigation Agency, our Supervised Access Workers are NOT Private Investigators. Our workers come from a variety of educational backgrounds working with youth and adults. Most of our workers either are graduated social workers, or individuals whom have a wealth of experience working in ether the justice system, or with families in high-conflict situations. Our program always conducts conflict of interest checks between our client's families and our workers, as we believe in ethical responsibility, and transparency.
Although our agency is also a Private Investigation Agency, our Supervised Access Workers are NOT Private Investigators. Our workers come from a variety of educational backgrounds working with youth and adults. Most of our workers either are graduated social workers, or individuals whom have a wealth of experience working in ether the justice system, or with families in high-conflict situations. Our program always conducts conflict of interest checks between our client's families and our workers, as we believe in ethical responsibility, and transparency.
Inclusion & Diversity
|
Our program is delivered with inclusion in mind, we provide services to everyone, we are a safe space for all families regardless of the gender, race, skin colour, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and age. Our staff our non-judgemental, and treat every client equally, with respect. As such, our program staff will ask you what your gender pronoun is that you wish us to refer to you as.
We don't just state we are a diverse organization we show it through the delivery of our program. Do you have a religious or cultural activity you wish to take your child to during your visit time? Provided it is okay with the day to day parent, and or ordered by the court, our staff would love to attend with you Although our staff may not believe in the same religion or have knowledge of your culture, we are also about education. Our staff are open-minded and look at it as a learning experience, after all why shouldn't you be able to continue your religious beliefs or attending cultural events while being supervised. Does your family speak a language other than English? We can match our worker that speaks your language fluently so that you may keep your language. There may be a wait list depending on the language you require. |
Transparency in Our ReportingAlthough, our program staff take detailed notes in relation to our communications, and during the course of access visitations and exchanges, we provide all parties, including legal counsel, copies of our supervised access notes and reports. Our workers are trained in documenting facts and observations.
We do not attribute feelings or emotions to the families actions. We cannot interpret an individual's feeling, as everyone reacts differently when expressing their emotions. Our notes do not provide opinions. However, from time to time, we have been called to testify in a litigation proceeding and have been asked what our opinion is. We document all interactions of the entire family unit who is participants in our program. |
APPLICATION PROCESS
Our application can be filled out via form below, or we can send you the form via email as requested.
Please read below before you submit your application:
1. Each parent/guardian must complete and submit a separate application form.
Submitting the application form is a request to participate in the program. It does not guarantee that service will be provided to you. The application form is not a legal document, and it does not replace the need for a Family Court Order for custody and access.
2. Please provide a copy of your Court Order, Minutes of Settlement, Endorsement or Mediation Agreement with the application form.
If you do not have a Court Order, a Mutual Agreement signed by both parents/guardians may be provided with the application form. Parents/guardians are encouraged to get legal advice before signing a Mutual Agreement. If your Court Order changes, a new copy must be provided to our office as soon as possible.
3. Upon filling out the form, you will receive a copy of what you have submitted via email. This will be sent to the email you provide on the form.
4. The information you provide on this form is not provided to the other party. All information is governed under the Freedom of Information & Privacy Act
Please read below before you submit your application:
1. Each parent/guardian must complete and submit a separate application form.
Submitting the application form is a request to participate in the program. It does not guarantee that service will be provided to you. The application form is not a legal document, and it does not replace the need for a Family Court Order for custody and access.
2. Please provide a copy of your Court Order, Minutes of Settlement, Endorsement or Mediation Agreement with the application form.
If you do not have a Court Order, a Mutual Agreement signed by both parents/guardians may be provided with the application form. Parents/guardians are encouraged to get legal advice before signing a Mutual Agreement. If your Court Order changes, a new copy must be provided to our office as soon as possible.
3. Upon filling out the form, you will receive a copy of what you have submitted via email. This will be sent to the email you provide on the form.
4. The information you provide on this form is not provided to the other party. All information is governed under the Freedom of Information & Privacy Act
If you are the day to day caregiver for the child(ren) or vulnerable adult please fill out the form above, if you are the parent, or adult who requires to be supervised with your child or vulnerable adult, please fill out the form below.
Please Note: We have the right to deny services to families that we believe are not suitable for our program, as such by submitting an application for services through our program does not guarantee participation in our program. Depending on the time you submit your application, there may be a waitlist for services.
Please Note: We have the right to deny services to families that we believe are not suitable for our program, as such by submitting an application for services through our program does not guarantee participation in our program. Depending on the time you submit your application, there may be a waitlist for services.
Disclaimer: COVID-19 Protocols
Our organization treats the information pertaining to one persons vaccination status as being their personal medical information, as such we will not ask you whether you are vaccinated or not. As a company as a whole, under the Freedom of Information & Privacy Act, we are not permitted to advise you whether or not our workers are vaccinated or not vaccinated, as this information is treated as their personal medical information.
In light of this, our organization makes the following statement regarding Public Health Orders, all of our employees that work in the community and with families, all follow Provincial & Federal health guidelines and mandates.
ABUSIVE LANGUAGE / BEHAVIOUR
We reserve the right to cancel, end, or deny the use of our services if you, or another participant, is being abusive, violent, hateful, or offensive in any way to us, our employees, and any surrounding individuals during the time before, during, and after your visit. We take the safety of our employees seriously, and offensive language and actions will not be permitted.
Our organization treats the information pertaining to one persons vaccination status as being their personal medical information, as such we will not ask you whether you are vaccinated or not. As a company as a whole, under the Freedom of Information & Privacy Act, we are not permitted to advise you whether or not our workers are vaccinated or not vaccinated, as this information is treated as their personal medical information.
In light of this, our organization makes the following statement regarding Public Health Orders, all of our employees that work in the community and with families, all follow Provincial & Federal health guidelines and mandates.
ABUSIVE LANGUAGE / BEHAVIOUR
We reserve the right to cancel, end, or deny the use of our services if you, or another participant, is being abusive, violent, hateful, or offensive in any way to us, our employees, and any surrounding individuals during the time before, during, and after your visit. We take the safety of our employees seriously, and offensive language and actions will not be permitted.
Our company follows the local COVID-19 guidelines of where the visit may be. As well, we have our own guidelines we've put in place to protect our employees and clients.
INTAKE PROCESS
Once both parents/guardians have submitted an application for service, and a time for the visit becomes available, the program coordinator will call each parent/guardian to schedule a separate intake interview. During the intake interview, the program coordinator will review your application with you and explain the program guidelines and procedures to you. As well, the program coordinator will collect relevant information about your family history. You will also be asked to sign consent forms for obtaining and releasing information. The intake usually takes about an hour. Listed below are the steps of the intake appointment and what happens after the intake appointment. Please note: BOTH parties must complete their intake PRIOR to receiving our services.
We may ask you to email us additional documents we may need, prior to your intake appointment. We've listed below what the additional documents we may ask for are:
- We do require masks if entering establishments to which they request patrons to wear them unless you are exempt.
- Social distancing is required whenever possible.
- We do provide services to unvaccinated individuals; however, from time to time, your supervised access worker may decide they do not wish to work with an unvaccinated participant. Although we do provide services to unvaccinated people, the employment standards legislation entails that a workplace must provide a safe workplace environment at all times. This includes a worker having the ability to refuse to provide services to an unvaccinated participant. As such, if you choose to be unvaccinated, there may be a situation that arises where your worker may refuse to conduct your visit on their own accord, and we may not have another worker available to conduct your visit depending on our caseload. In this situation and if you wish to schedule a visit with us, we will rebook your visit with another supervised access worker.
INTAKE PROCESS
Once both parents/guardians have submitted an application for service, and a time for the visit becomes available, the program coordinator will call each parent/guardian to schedule a separate intake interview. During the intake interview, the program coordinator will review your application with you and explain the program guidelines and procedures to you. As well, the program coordinator will collect relevant information about your family history. You will also be asked to sign consent forms for obtaining and releasing information. The intake usually takes about an hour. Listed below are the steps of the intake appointment and what happens after the intake appointment. Please note: BOTH parties must complete their intake PRIOR to receiving our services.
- Fill out the Supervised Access Program Application Form
- Wait for one of our workers to call you to book your telephone intake appointment
- Upon completion of your intake appointment and if you've been accepted into our program, you will receive a welcome letter via email.
- Wait to be matched with a worker. Upon being successfully matched, you will receive an email from us, outlining your scheduled visit.
- The visit will take place.
We may ask you to email us additional documents we may need, prior to your intake appointment. We've listed below what the additional documents we may ask for are:
- Ministry for Children & Family, or other Child Protection Agency documents;
- Past or present restraining orders, probation and/or bail conditions;
- Proof of income, in order to determine the fees that you will have to pay;
- Any other documents that you feel might be relevant.
How long will I wait to start visits?
The wait time for an intake interview, after receiving both applications for service, depends on the number of families requesting service and on the availability of day and time for visits. Once parents have completed the application process and intake interview, the visits can start as soon as there is an opening on a day and time that works for your family. When there is a wait list, there may be a wait of weeks to several months. This process is very important, as we want to make sure we match the appropriate worker with your family, and it allows us to get to know what your needs are as a family. We do not want to rush this process, and our intake interviews are conducted via telephone.
When are visits and exchanges possible?
Exchanges are available on a set schedule each week. For example, say the access parent has their child Mondays at 5 PM to Wednesday at 5 PM. A member of our S.A.P program can conduct the exchange, and will arrive 15 minutes prior to the exchange. Please note the children must be ready for the S.A.P. worker, as the S.A.P. worker has other families who they assist. If there is a continuous issue with the children not being ready at the exchange time, it may disqualify you from our program. We are open 365 days per year, from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Please note we are also available on Statutory holidays. For a full list of our hours, please visit our "Contact Us" page.
S.A.P Office Visit:
In the Province of Alberta we do not provide in office visits, all visitation is community based or within the Supervised Access Parents home (a home study must be conducted in order to have an in home visit.)
In the Community Visits: Each family will be assigned a Supervised Access Worker, this worker will be your families supervisor for all visits & exchanges. In the event the Supervised Access Worker, is sick or on holidays, you will be assigned a backup worker.
Our goal is to provide the same worker to your family, so that the children, are comfortable during the visits/exchanges.
When would visits be terminated?
Families can remain involved with the Supervised Access Program until the children are either 18 or 19, depending on the age of majority of the province. Service could be terminated when the program guidelines are breached and resolution can’t be reached. We can’t recommend alternative arrangements, so it's up to the parents, their lawyers, or the Court to propose alternatives to continued supervised access.
Information for Service Providers and Professionals
If you are a Lawyer or a Social Service child protection agency, and are in urgent requirement of a SAP visitation for court proceedings, you may contact our office, and we can try to accommodate your immediate needs. Professional Agencies and Law Firms are prioritized.
Children Protection Involvement
We do offer supervised visits when a family is involved with MCFD or other Child Protection Agency.
Please note that if you have an open child protection matter, and if your fees are being paid by MCFD, all observation notes will be made available to the Social Worker or their representative upon written request.
Testifying in Court/ Copies of Observation Notes
Only in extreme cases will our S.A.P. workers appear in court to discuss a Supervised Access Visit. However, if an incident occurs during an access visit, we will provide a written incident report to all parties in regards to the Incident. In the event you require us to appear in court, we charge an hourly rate of $60.00 per hour for attendance, and $60.00 per hour for court preparation time. This is payable by the party who is requesting our attendance.
Observation Notes of the access visit are available to the both parties and will be sent via email. An initial copy of our observation notes are available free of charge; however, if there's a need for any additional copies, a fee will be applied.
What Training does my S.A.P. worker have?
In order to work as a S.A.P. worker with our program, you must have no criminal record, be of good character and clear of conduct. We conduct intense screening of all of our workers on an annual basis. Our S.A.P. workers come from a variety of backgrounds, with one focus in mind: that the safety of children is paramount. Our worker's priority is the health, safety and wellbeing of the children. As well, we match our workers with the needs of the family and child. In the event a child has a disability, or the adult has a disability, we match a worker that has the appropriate training and experience to work with the person who has a disability.
There is no regulatory oversight presently in relation to the delivery of Supervised Access Programs, however we are trying to obtain a government regulator for programs to be accountable for the way they deliver Supervised Access Services.
What if I have a complaint about my S.A.P. worker?
West Point takes all complaints seriously. In the event that you are having issues with your S.A.P. worker, you may contact our office outside of your access visit while the child(ren) are not present. Our S.A.P. program coordinator will attempt to find a resolution for your complaint. If warranted, we will conduct an investigation regarding the S.A.P. worker where the complaint is in relation to safety, or concerns of the child(ren) during an access/exchange visit. In some cases we will change workers. However, we attempt to find a resolution to all complaints without doing as such, as children usually tend to feel most comfortable with the same worker during each visit/exchange.
Why do you video/audio record our communications and visits, and who do you give them to?
We have delivered our program successfully for over seven years, without video/audio recording communications and visits. However, as there is no professional oversight in relation to programs such as Supervised Access, we wanted to hold ourselves accountable to the families in our program. We further want to ensure we have a safe workplace for all of our staff and ensure that our workers meet the needs of our clients. That being stated, we have implemented audio/video recording of visitations and telephone calls to protect our families, as well as to protect our staff. As we do not video / audio record every visit, you will be advised in writing if your visit would be video/ audio recorded In relation to disclosing audios/videos, we do not disclose any video or audio recordings to third parties without a court order, or without being required to by law. However, if you are a participant and want a copy of your own information, you are entitled to have a copy. Please Note: we do not video/audio all communications; however, we may from time-to-time.
We know that when the subject comes up about video / audio recording communication, it at times makes people uncomfortable, that being stated, the reason we may video / audio record is more to protect the participants in our program and or our staff. Our program staff, believes that organizations that provide supervised access visitation and exchanges should be licensed with government oversight. What a supervised access worker or program testifies in court bears weight in family court proceedings therefore, we want accountability for all supervised access visitation workers.
If a family for example does a visit, and say the visit goes extremely well, and for some reason or another a worker for some reason stated something factually incorrect, with a audio / video of that visit, it shows the true account of what took place, it is not a he said / she said situation.
As well, when our workers provide transportation services our workers are alone in a vehicle with the child(ren) although our staff have screening conducted such as criminal record checks, vulnerable sector checks, and in-depth reference checks, we want to make sure your children are safe, therefore we know as an agency what goes on at all times when our workers are with your child. It is for your child's added protection.
We do not share any of our videos / audios with any third party without a court order, or without a Freedom of Information request, and you are always permitted to have a copy of your own information. We store all information for 2 years, from the time. you have left our program.
The wait time for an intake interview, after receiving both applications for service, depends on the number of families requesting service and on the availability of day and time for visits. Once parents have completed the application process and intake interview, the visits can start as soon as there is an opening on a day and time that works for your family. When there is a wait list, there may be a wait of weeks to several months. This process is very important, as we want to make sure we match the appropriate worker with your family, and it allows us to get to know what your needs are as a family. We do not want to rush this process, and our intake interviews are conducted via telephone.
When are visits and exchanges possible?
Exchanges are available on a set schedule each week. For example, say the access parent has their child Mondays at 5 PM to Wednesday at 5 PM. A member of our S.A.P program can conduct the exchange, and will arrive 15 minutes prior to the exchange. Please note the children must be ready for the S.A.P. worker, as the S.A.P. worker has other families who they assist. If there is a continuous issue with the children not being ready at the exchange time, it may disqualify you from our program. We are open 365 days per year, from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Please note we are also available on Statutory holidays. For a full list of our hours, please visit our "Contact Us" page.
S.A.P Office Visit:
In the Province of Alberta we do not provide in office visits, all visitation is community based or within the Supervised Access Parents home (a home study must be conducted in order to have an in home visit.)
In the Community Visits: Each family will be assigned a Supervised Access Worker, this worker will be your families supervisor for all visits & exchanges. In the event the Supervised Access Worker, is sick or on holidays, you will be assigned a backup worker.
Our goal is to provide the same worker to your family, so that the children, are comfortable during the visits/exchanges.
When would visits be terminated?
Families can remain involved with the Supervised Access Program until the children are either 18 or 19, depending on the age of majority of the province. Service could be terminated when the program guidelines are breached and resolution can’t be reached. We can’t recommend alternative arrangements, so it's up to the parents, their lawyers, or the Court to propose alternatives to continued supervised access.
Information for Service Providers and Professionals
If you are a Lawyer or a Social Service child protection agency, and are in urgent requirement of a SAP visitation for court proceedings, you may contact our office, and we can try to accommodate your immediate needs. Professional Agencies and Law Firms are prioritized.
Children Protection Involvement
We do offer supervised visits when a family is involved with MCFD or other Child Protection Agency.
Please note that if you have an open child protection matter, and if your fees are being paid by MCFD, all observation notes will be made available to the Social Worker or their representative upon written request.
Testifying in Court/ Copies of Observation Notes
Only in extreme cases will our S.A.P. workers appear in court to discuss a Supervised Access Visit. However, if an incident occurs during an access visit, we will provide a written incident report to all parties in regards to the Incident. In the event you require us to appear in court, we charge an hourly rate of $60.00 per hour for attendance, and $60.00 per hour for court preparation time. This is payable by the party who is requesting our attendance.
Observation Notes of the access visit are available to the both parties and will be sent via email. An initial copy of our observation notes are available free of charge; however, if there's a need for any additional copies, a fee will be applied.
What Training does my S.A.P. worker have?
In order to work as a S.A.P. worker with our program, you must have no criminal record, be of good character and clear of conduct. We conduct intense screening of all of our workers on an annual basis. Our S.A.P. workers come from a variety of backgrounds, with one focus in mind: that the safety of children is paramount. Our worker's priority is the health, safety and wellbeing of the children. As well, we match our workers with the needs of the family and child. In the event a child has a disability, or the adult has a disability, we match a worker that has the appropriate training and experience to work with the person who has a disability.
There is no regulatory oversight presently in relation to the delivery of Supervised Access Programs, however we are trying to obtain a government regulator for programs to be accountable for the way they deliver Supervised Access Services.
What if I have a complaint about my S.A.P. worker?
West Point takes all complaints seriously. In the event that you are having issues with your S.A.P. worker, you may contact our office outside of your access visit while the child(ren) are not present. Our S.A.P. program coordinator will attempt to find a resolution for your complaint. If warranted, we will conduct an investigation regarding the S.A.P. worker where the complaint is in relation to safety, or concerns of the child(ren) during an access/exchange visit. In some cases we will change workers. However, we attempt to find a resolution to all complaints without doing as such, as children usually tend to feel most comfortable with the same worker during each visit/exchange.
Why do you video/audio record our communications and visits, and who do you give them to?
We have delivered our program successfully for over seven years, without video/audio recording communications and visits. However, as there is no professional oversight in relation to programs such as Supervised Access, we wanted to hold ourselves accountable to the families in our program. We further want to ensure we have a safe workplace for all of our staff and ensure that our workers meet the needs of our clients. That being stated, we have implemented audio/video recording of visitations and telephone calls to protect our families, as well as to protect our staff. As we do not video / audio record every visit, you will be advised in writing if your visit would be video/ audio recorded In relation to disclosing audios/videos, we do not disclose any video or audio recordings to third parties without a court order, or without being required to by law. However, if you are a participant and want a copy of your own information, you are entitled to have a copy. Please Note: we do not video/audio all communications; however, we may from time-to-time.
We know that when the subject comes up about video / audio recording communication, it at times makes people uncomfortable, that being stated, the reason we may video / audio record is more to protect the participants in our program and or our staff. Our program staff, believes that organizations that provide supervised access visitation and exchanges should be licensed with government oversight. What a supervised access worker or program testifies in court bears weight in family court proceedings therefore, we want accountability for all supervised access visitation workers.
If a family for example does a visit, and say the visit goes extremely well, and for some reason or another a worker for some reason stated something factually incorrect, with a audio / video of that visit, it shows the true account of what took place, it is not a he said / she said situation.
As well, when our workers provide transportation services our workers are alone in a vehicle with the child(ren) although our staff have screening conducted such as criminal record checks, vulnerable sector checks, and in-depth reference checks, we want to make sure your children are safe, therefore we know as an agency what goes on at all times when our workers are with your child. It is for your child's added protection.
We do not share any of our videos / audios with any third party without a court order, or without a Freedom of Information request, and you are always permitted to have a copy of your own information. We store all information for 2 years, from the time. you have left our program.