Access/Visitation Grants
The Nebraska Child Support Program administers and distributes the Federal Parental Access and Visitation (AV) Grant Program funds received from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration of Children and Families, Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE). The AV Grant Program supports and facilitates non-custodial parents' access to and visitation of their children. Currently, there are six nonprofit mediation centers and one supervised visitation/neutral drop-off center providing access and visitation services to Nebraska families.
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), commonly referred to as welfare reform, added a provision to the Social Security Act which allocates funding for local services based on the number of single parent households in each state. The purpose of these grants is to fund programs that provide assistance to noncustodial parents wishing to increase visitation and become more actively involved in their children's lives and may be allocated for programs that offer:
- Mediation (both voluntary and mandatory);
- Counseling;
- Parent education;
- Development of parenting plans;
- Visitation enforcement (including monitoring, supervised visitation, and neutral drop-off sites).
For more information:
Federal Overview of Access & Visitation Program
Mediation Centers
Mediation Information
Domestic Violence