Southampton City Council fact sheet
Who is it for?
Supervised Contact sessions are for children who no longer live at home, and are looked after by the Council. The scheme provides a safe and friendly place for children to meet and have contact with their parents and other members of their family. Your child’s Social Worker will arrange who will be coming. You can also sign a letter agreeing to the contact conditions.
What will be expected of me?
You will be expected to:
Participate in the Contact meeting and adhere to the contract for supervised contact.
Attend Contact regularly.
Take responsibility for the children during contact (e.g. safety, behaviour).
Notify the unit and/or Co-ordinator if unable to attend for any reason in advance of the contact taking place.
Accept guidance from the contact supervisor, Co-ordinator, or Family Centre staff.
Help tidy room after use.
Why do I have to go?
When children are living away from home it is important for them to keep in touch with their family, as where possible they will be going home soon.
Who will be there?
The contact is private. A “Contact Supervisor” will be present. They are there to ensure that children are safe, to offer guidance, to encourage play activities and to help smooth over any problems that might arise. They will also make notes to pass onto your child’s Social Worker. The supervisor does not know a lot about your case, so all questions need to go to your child’s Social Worker. However the supervisor can pass on messages on your behalf.
Where is it?
Most contact takes place in one of our Family Centres, which have dedicated rooms where you can meet, with toys and games for you and your child to play with.
The centres are at the following locations:
Derby Road Family Centre (Central Team)
Derby Road, Southampton, SO14 0OD.
Telephone: 023 8022 8073
Forest View Family Centre (West Team)
1 Sutherland Road, Lordshill, SO16 8GA.
Telephone: 023 8073 4592
Bitterne Family Centre (East Team)
46 Peartree Avenue, Southampton, SO19 7JP.
Telephone: 023 8083 4430
If you have any questions or are unsure of anything, don’t be scared to ask – just phone the Contact Scheme Co-ordinator on 023 8083 3336.
We are here to make sure that your time together is quality time.
How do I get there?
The contact will be arranged to fit in with the child’s education and parent’s work pattern where possible. The Social Worker can arrange for someone to collect the child/children and bring them to contact and take them back at the end. It may be the supervisor.
We expect parents to arrange their own transport. If you have a problem with this, please let your child’s Social Worker know (financial support to attend contact maybe considered).
Who do I tell if I am not able to go?
Sometimes contact will be cancelled. This may be because the child is ill or has a medical/school appointment. If this happens we will try to inform you as quickly as we can.
If you are unable to come to contact please contact the Supervised Contact Scheme as soon as possible on 023 8083 3336.
What happens if I miss sessions?
If you fail to attend or do not inform Contact Co-ordinator/Social worker with a reason why they cannot attend for 3 consecutive sessions, contact will be stopped until you meet with the Social worker and an contact agreement reached. You will be informed of what time you need to be at the Family Centre prior to the children being collected from carers.
Contact Name
Last updated: 17 November 2011