California's Access to Visitation Grant Program is funded by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-193), Title III, Subtitle I — Enhancing Responsibility and Opportunity for Nonresidential Parents, Section 469B of the Social Security Act. The purpose of the federal grant program is to enable states to establish and administer programs to support and facilitate noncustodial parents' access to and visitation with their children. The federal funding allocation to each state is based on the number of single-parent households.

The Judicial Council is charged with the administration of the program and is required to apply for these federal funds annually. Each year in March, the council is required to report to the Legislature on the programs funded and the extent to which those programs have achieved the goal of promoting and encouraging healthy parent-and-child relationships while ensuring the health, safety, and welfare of the children. To read the legislative reports, click here.

Eligibility

All family courts throughout California are eligible to apply for and receive the Access to Visitation Grant funds. The grant is 100 percent federally funded. Program administrators are encouraged to collaborate with other county courts, with one court acting as a lead agency or an administering court. The family law division of the superior court shall administer the program. Contract agreements will be made only with the designated administering court. Subject to the availability of federal funding, grant funds may be used to expand or augment existing programs but may not be used to supplant existing funding for those programs. The proposed programs must be incorporated within existing family court services or family court programs or be subcontracted to nonprofit agencies.

Collaboration with multiple courts and counties is strongly encouraged to maximize the use of resources.

Policy and Standards of Practice

The Judicial Council is the policymaking body for California's court system. The council is charged with administering and distributing the federal Child Access and Visitation Grant Program funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Federal Child Support Enforcement. The Judicial Council makes the final decision regarding the numbers and amounts of grant awards. The Center for Families, Children & the Courts has the primary responsibility for administering the program.

In 1998, the Judicial Council adopted the Uniform Standards of Practice for Providers of Supervised Visitation as section 26.2 of the California Standards of Judicial Administration. All supervised visitation and exchange programs receiving Access to Visitation Grant funds must comply with all requirements of the Uniform Standards of Practice for Providers of Supervised Visitation as set forth in section 26.2.