Facts

Contact person:
Angelica Wågby Gräfe
Financer:
  • Malmö universitet
Responsible at MaU:
Angelica Wågby Gräfe
Project members at MaU:
Collaborators :
  • Umgåsen Malmö stad
Time frame:
01 January 2025 - 31 December 2028
Faculty/department:
Research environment :
Research subject:

Project description

The project explores two areas:

  • Support for child contact, with a particular focus on place-based forms of support.
  • The relationship between supervised visitation and support for contact.

Support for child contact, with a particular focus on place-based forms of support

Support for child contact is an intervention within social services aimed at facilitating contact between children and parents who do not live together, for example when children are placed in foster care or in cases of separation involving high levels of conflict, substance abuse problems, or domestic violence. The intervention is needs-assessed and can involve different types of professionals. For example, a contact person may be appointed by social services, or outpatient treatment staff or similar may be present during contact sessions. There are also tailored services, either in specially designed premises or in borrowed spaces such as municipal open preschools, where staff are specifically employed to provide support during contact work. Initially, the focus is on place-based forms of support, staff experiences of the work, and the setting where the contact takes place.

The relationship between supervised visitation and support for contact

Supervised visitation is decided by a district court in connection with disputes over custody, residence, and contact. The Parliamentary Ombudsman (JO) has emphasized the importance of clearly distinguishing between supervised visitation and support for contact, but there are significant national variations in how these supports are designed. This part of the project aims to explore these variations, as well as the possibilities and limitations, and future opportunities for evidence-based preventive social work related to contact arrangements.