Nobody Monitors the Monitors: Oversight Gaps and High Costs in California's Supervised Visitation System

There was a show in the 90's called Family Matters. It was a comedy series. This article is called Family Matters but it is real, factual and NEEDS more attention!

For the past seven months I have observed the family law court system to play a major part of the separation between a father and a child. This article is not intended to blame the court system but to shed light on the system so that the system can be modified, changed, or re-examined to support a society where Family Matters.

There are 12 major areas of family law. This article focuses on child custody and visitation that includes a court-order supervised professional visitation monitor.

Requirements to become a professional visitation monitor in California include must be at least 21 years old, complete a minimum of 24 hours specialized training that includes 12 hours of classroom instruction covering child abuse reporting, child development, and the role of a monitor. A Live Scan criminal background check must be conducted and register with TrustLine, California's registry of in-home and childcare providers.

Once an individual meets all requirements to become a professional visitation monitor and completes the 24-hour course, earns the certificate of completion. The individual becomes a professional visitation monitor for life!

Professional visitation monitors charge an hourly fee typically ranging from $50 to $150 plus per hour with a 2-hour minimum. There are other supplemental charges for reports, court appearances and other special requests.

There are no renewals of certificates or required extended training for the professional visitation monitors.

This should be concerning for parents and the court system governing family matters which include children! It is hard to believe that there are no red flags. It is even harder to believe that there is no governing system that monitors the professional visitation monitors. There are several family laws and family law codes, but absolutely none that relates to the professional visitation monitors. Nobody monitors the Monitors!

A governing system needs to be put into place to correct this important matter immediately. There are several cases where professional visitation monitors have taken advantage of families without any course of actions to the professional visitation monitors. Let's correct it.

Most individuals are not able to sustain an additional cost of $500 to $1500 weekly for a professional visitation monitor to be a part of their child's life.

Families should not be divided by services and providers that hinder the family tree. Families should not have to pay astronomical fees to spend time with their children.

There is a need for more compassionate type services that encourage and support family matters.

This is the reason that Empathy Professional Visitation Monitoring Service (EPVMS) was established. EPVMS is a private service offered to families that need a professional visitation monitor. EPVMS provides a sliding scale for families to spend quality time and spread love to their loved ones without breaking their bank accounts.

Empathy Professional Visitation Monitoring Service also works with compassionate professionals such as attorneys, health care providers, media and social workers to embellish the true meaning Family Matters.

Reach out to EPVMS at [email protected].