Supervised Child Visitation for Non-Custodial Parent: A Study of Court-Assisted-Visitation and Its Monitoring System in Taiwan

This article presents a study of supervised visitation services offered by Taipei, New Taipei City, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung districts in Taiwan. It is based on a review of practices and services offered by Visitation and Family Services Centers based at the courts operated by the city/county governments, NGO and private agencies. It is a qualitative research conducted by way of interviews with judges ordering supervised visitation and social workers handling supervised visitation meetings. This study found that the courts started encouraging supervised visitation in separation and divorce cases involving domestic violence and high levels of family conflict after the introduction of the Domestic Violence Prevention Law in 1998. The best interests of the child principle enshrined in Article 1055-1 of the Taiwan Civil Code is the fundamental consideration for judges and social workers to determine if supervised visitation should be allowed, restricted or discontinued. Both legal and non-legal experts are working hand-in-hand to promote continued contact between the non-custodial parent and the children of high conflict, separated and divorced families.