Supervised Visitation and Exchanges
Harmony House offers a supervised and safe environment for parents and their children to visit. Our agency is located at 1005 Michigan Avenue, La Porte. Our building is over 130 years old and we provide four visitation areas, as well as a kitchen for family meals, and an enclosed backyard with swing sets, teeter totters and a sandbox for each families use.
Services Offered At Harmony House
HOME-LIKE SETTING
Children that come to Harmony House to visit with parents find a house with toys and games, comfortable furnishings, a yard with outdoor activities and more. Parents are free to do as they would at their home, which includes use of a full kitchen for meal and snack preparation.
SUPERVISED VISITATION
Supervised visits, in a comfortable, neutral setting, encourage parents and children to relax while strengthening their family relationship.
Sessions are closely monitored by visitation staff that observe, record activities and stand close to intervene if necessary for the emotional or physical safety of the child.
MONITORED EXCHANGES
A monitored exchange program is offered to parents not required to have supervised visitation, but that need to exchange custody of children without interacting with the other parent. Monitoring of each exchange is provided by a visit supervisor.
1-2-3 Magic Parent Training
1-2-3 Magic divides parenting responsibilities into three straightforward tasks: controlling negative behavior, encouraging good behavior, and strengthening the child-parent relationship. The program seeks to encourage gentle, but firm, discipline without arguing, yelling, or spanking. This program is offered to all community members at no cost.
Common Reasons For Use Of Our Programs
- Parents having a history of hostile or violent arguments during the pickup and return of the children.
- The visiting parent has a substance abuse and/or mental health problem that gives the Court or custodial parent concern for the child’s welfare.
- The visiting parent’s living situation is unsuitable for meeting the needs of his/her children.
- Either parent has repeatedly failed to cooperate with visitation arrangements.
- The Court suspects the visiting parent may flee the state with the child; or the children are in custody or care of the Division of Family & Children.
Frequently Asked Questions
Families may be referred by the court system, attorneys, social workers, child welfare case workers, CASAs/GALs, clergy or mental health professionals. Contact Harmony House to discuss the specific process with staff.
All scheduling of visitations and exchanges will be done by the staff of Harmony House with input from each party involved. Timing/Scheduling is critical to the service of Harmony House.
The initial visit is scheduled on a first come, first served basis. After the initial visit, regular scheduled times will be arranged according to the preset guidelines provided, outlining a visitation plan. All scheduling must be done through Harmony House staff.
Visitation times are subject to availability of visitation supervisors. Supervised visitation is not available on Sundays. There will be no visitations or exchanges on New Year’s Day, Easter, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving or Christmas Day.
For detailed information please call 219-324-3385 and ask for Cheryl.
Our trained visitation staff, or visit supervisors, monitor family interaction and appropriately intervene during visits, when necessary. Their primary concern is the safety and well-being of everyone at Harmony House. Visitation staff document happenings and conversations that occur throughout each visit.
Download Documents
For More Information Please Contact
Cheryl Highsmith – Harmony House Program Director
chighsmith@lpfamilyadvocates.com or call 219.324.3385
