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The Safe Havens: Supervised Visitation and Safe Exchange Grant Program was authorized under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 2000 to increase opportunities for supervised visitation and safe exchange, by and between parents, in cases of domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, and stalking.
As part of this grant program, the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) developed and implemented a four-year demonstration initiative to examine promising practices in the field of supervised visitation and safe exchanges. In fiscal year 2002, OVW awarded grants to four demonstration sites: the Bay Area, California; the City of Chicago, Illinois; the City of Kent, Washington; and the State of Michigan. Since implementation, the demonstration sites have conducted local audits to examine the role of supervised visitation, explored the issue of supervised visitation services for underserved populations, and measured the effectiveness of physical security measures for visitation facilities.
Under the Safe Havens Demonstration Initiative, the selected demonstration sites identified and implemented promising practices, developed national standards and protocols, implemented enhanced security measures, expanded community partnerships, and created specialized services for victims and their children within targeted communities. In addition to the aforementioned goals and objectives, each demonstration site received enhanced technical assistance and participated in an evaluation designed to measure the effectiveness of the local demonstration projects.
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