NCJ Number
158300
Journal
Social Policy Journal of New Zealand Issue: 3 Dated: (December 1994) Pages: 147-152
Date Published
1994
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The first national conference of the newly formed Australian and New Zealand Association of Children's Access Services aimed to provide a forum for service providers to share information, for researchers to discuss recent research findings, and for a range of relevant legal and welfare issues to be discussed.
Abstract
The conference was timely in view of proposed changes to the Domestic Protection Act and the Guardianship Act in New Zealand. These acts acknowledge the impact on children of witnessing or being directly involved in family violence between parents. The importance of children's access services in protecting them against exposure to violence is emphasized. Such services tend to focus on two key components: (1) supervision of "hand-over" children between the custodial parent and the noncustodial parent for court-ordered or mutually agreed visits; and (2) supervision of access visits because a court has ordered such supervision for safety reasons. Concerns about the safety of both children and custodial parents are examined, along with risks involved in children's access visits with a parent who is or has been violent. The Australian and New Zealand Association of Children's Access Services proposes three service delivery models: preventive/early intervention, enabling/problems established, and secure/severe difficulties. These models describe a continuum of least to most risk and assume differing supervision levels. The role of courts in the provision of children's access services and service delivery issues are considered.