Visit Coaching

Visit Coaching is a supportive approach to assist parents while visiting with their children who are in out-of-home care.

The approach was developed by Marty Beyer, PhD, a nationally recognized child welfare and juvenile justice consultant.  The approach uses “coaches,” a vital and engaging role during parental and caregiver visitations.

Visit coaching includes:

• Reaching agreement with the parent about the child’s needs to be met in visits, connected to the risks that brought the child into care
• Preparing parents for their child’s reactions and how to plan to give their child their full attention at each visit
• Appreciating the parent’s strengths in responding to their child and coaching them to improve their skills
• Supportively reminding parents immediately before and during the visit of how they plan to meet the particular needs of their children
• Helping parents cope with their feelings in order to visit consistently

Visit coaching takes place in a variety of settings but in all cases, the approach focuses on the strengths of the parent and promoting positive and fun visiting experience for everyone.  At JusticeWorks we follow the four principles of visit coaching—empowerment, empathy, responsiveness and active parenting that are central to the visit coaching model.