Family Network of East Texas

Open house held at new supervised visitation center

By TYESHA BOUDREAUX
The Daily Sentinel

The Family Network of East Texas held an open house Friday to introduce the community to its newest supervised visitation and exchange center, which will benefit parents who can only have supervised visits with their children as ordered by the state, according to Thresa Caldwell, the agency's founder and director.

The mission of the supervised visitation and exchange center is to strengthen family relationships through visitation, exchange and support services, and to provide a child-focused environment for families in transition, according to the agency's Web site

"The visitation center will provide a safe outlet for these parents to have visits with their children," Caldwell said.

The center is filled with toys, books and different activities, and it also has an adjoining movie room for parents and children to watch movies together.

"We provide a child-friendly atmosphere that is safe for the visits," Caldwell said.

The social-service agency also monitors child exchanges between parents.

"There really isn't any other place in town that provides a positive place for exchanges," Caldwell said. "Sometimes, the parents will meet in parking lots or at the sheriff's office."

A parent who can only have supervised visitations with their children can be referred to the agency by the judge or by child protective services, Caldwell said.

The agency also provides social services to at-risk families and youth, she said.

"We provide services to the entire family," she said. "I think that people would access resources if they knew where to go."

"As an agency, we want to be able to connect people with resources in the community."

Caldwell 's husband and two oldest daughters also work at the center.

"Our motto is families helping families," Caldwell said. "What better choice to display that than by having my family here working with me."