Forensic Services
CFS is committed to providing innovative and most importantly, individualized social work services for any family in any situation, especially as they interface with the Court.
CFS programs are designed to meet the needs and requests of the Court and of the family differently and at different stages throughout the life of a proceeding. Our services can be best understood as being on a continuum of services that can be adjusted along with needs of a family.
Ancillary services provided by CFS such as Home Assessments, Drug and Alcohol Testing and Parenting Education programs are frequently utilized in conjunction with CFS’ visitation programs or can be stand alone services utilized during the course of litigation. See below for more details.
Supervised Visitation Services
Observation/Evaluation
Therapeutic Visitation
Supervised Visitation
VISITATION MONITORING
Virtual visitation
Court appointed evaluations
Parenting Education & Support Services
(Please note that some of our parenting programs are offered through our sister company CTS)
NY State Certified Parents in Transition
ACS Approved Art of Parenting
Other Services
Client Advocacy and Interdisciplinary defense
Drug and alcohol testing
Home Assessments and Evaluations
Fees
CFS provides services to a diverse clientele. The cost of any CFS service or program is based on an hourly rate. The hourly rate is established based on income, assets, type of service, who is responsible for payment (shared or not) and estimated monthly usage.
Bridging Gaps
From evaluation to treatment, growth through crisis, CFS bridges families from conflict to conciliation.
— Rick Spitzer, Founder & Chairman
Court Appointed Evaluation
CFS Social Workers are appointed as Neutral Court Evaluators to conduct assessments related to custody, visitation, child protection and criminal defense. The scope of these assessments are determined by the Court, and CFS social workers are available to serve as expert witnesses and provide recommendations and conclusions to assist the Court as directed.
OBSERVATION AND EVALUATION VISITATION
Pursuant to Court Order or on consent of parties, CFS provides Observed and Evaluated visitation. Licensed Social Workers conduct Supervised Visitation for the purposes of observing and evaluating the parent/child interaction and attachment, parenting skills and any other areas of concern specific to each family. CFS provides as many visitation sessions as the Court orders, and these evaluations typicaly include intake interviews of the parties and children. The gathered information is then provided to the Court and can assist in informing custody and visitation determinations. Observation and Evaluations can also assist in identifying areas of intervention into the family dynamic to help assist and stabilize a family in conflict.
SUPERVISED VISITATION
CFS Licensed Social Workers facilitate supervised visits. The goal of CFS Supervised Visitations is to provide children and their families with safe and enriching opportunities for interaction and continuing of important familial relationships despite the conflict or other difficult circumstances they may be experiencing. Highly skilled Social Workers provide discreet supervision in the community (including in the family’s home) or in CFS’ offices as necessary. Trained Social Workers monitor the family interaction to ensure the safety of the child(ren). Information regarding these visits can be provided to the Court or counsel as directed or agreed upon.
THERAPEUTIC VISITATION
Therapeutic Visitations differ from standard Supervised Visitations in that there is an identified issue requiring the intervention, support or facilitation of the Licensed Social Worker during the supervised parenting time. Other therapeutic services such as Family Therapy are offered through our sister company, CTS.
As part of the program, Licensed Clinical Professionals intervene and engage with the family to ameliorate obstacles that exist to more normative and less restrictive parent/child access. Simply put, Therapeutic Visitation is understood to be more of a family treatment model utilizing interventions similar to family therapy or parent coaching in the context of visitation. The facilitating Social Worker can provide assessment and intervention in an attempt to repair family relationships, and can provide reports to the Court as directed regarding the participation in, engagement with and efficacy of these interventions.
VISITATION MONITORING
Through the utilization of a customized plan for scheduled or unannounced in-person visits and virtual check-ins during a family’s access time, CFS’ Visitation Monitoring service provides the Court with neutral and reliable information related to the nature and quality of a family’s access time. Additionally, CFS Social Workers are available to conduct check-in interviews of children or parents as needed to assess for any areas of concern. This service can be utilized as a preventive measure without prior CFS involvement, or as a step-down from other CFS facilitated access such as Supervised or Therapeutic Visitation in order to continue to assess and monitor a family’s progress.
VIRTUAL VISITATION
For situations where in person parent/child is either determined to be inappropriate or is not logistically possible due to other barriers, CFS provides supervised virtual visitation. This includes supervising parental access through video calling on HIPAA compliant platforms such as Zoom, and also through supervised telephone calls. Depending on the technology you use at home, our Social Workers are flexible and can arrange virtual sessions via Skype or Facetime.
CFS is also available to monitor email, text or written communication between a parent and child/ren. As with most CFS services, this can be utilized as a stand-alone service or as a compliment to other already utilized programs.
CFS COVID-19 Response
In our twenty years of practice, we have prided ourselves on innovative problem solving and developing solutions to best meet the needs of our community. As the pandemic has unfolded, we have continued to provide Supervised Access services in the safest, most child-centered manner possible. CFS Virtual Visitation Services have long been available and utilized by Courts and Family Law attorneys throughout New York City.
In these uncertain times, the option to do Virtual Visitation has become a vital lifeline for children and their parents whose contact is limited by the circumstances of the COVID-19 crisis. CFS’ Virtual Visitation can help mitigate distress to children and their parents by allowing supervised access to continue and limiting disruptions to relationships that are likely already strained due to family issues that have resulted in Court involvement. Moreover, CFS’ virtual services allow for some of the assessments and interventions directed by Courts to continue and provides the Court with neutral information from a relied upon provider to inform decisions being made.
CFS’ Virtual Visitation service can be utilized to provide supervision of parenting time through a few different modalities including, but not limited to supervised video conferencing and supervised phone calls. Another CFS Virtual Visitation service option is supervised virtual social work monitoring or supervision of in person parent/child contact via home-based camera system. CFS is also able to virtually monitor text/email communications and transfers of children between parents. As with all services, CFS remains available to discuss circumstances unique to specific cases so as to best determine the most appropriate protocol for each family.