Restrictions on Parenting Time

Parenting time can be restricted if the court finds that a parent has engaged in conduct that seriously endangered a child’s mental, moral, or physical health, or behavior that significantly impaired the child’s development. Under 750 ILCS 5/603.10, if a court makes this determination, then the court can enter orders with certain restrictions on a parent to protect the child.

The most common restrictions include reducing or eliminating the party’s decision-making abilities or parenting time or ordering supervised parenting time. While these are more common, the court has authority to also require the exchange of the child to occur through an intermediary or in a protected setting, restrain communication between the parents or the child, require parents to abstain from possessing or consuming alcohol or non-prescribed drugs while exercising parenting time and within a specified period immediately preceding the parenting time and require random drug and alcohol testing to be done, restrict the presence of specific people during parenting time, require a parent to post a bond to secure the return of the child following the parent’s exercise of parenting time or to secure other performance required by the court, or require a parent to complete a treatment program for perpetrators of abuse or drug or alcohol abuse. The court may impose any other constraints or conditions that the court deems necessary to provide for the child’s safety or welfare, which gives the court a lot of deference to order other restrictions as it seems fit.

One of the most common restrictions courts order is that parenting time be supervised. This supervision may occur in a few different ways. One way is through a service or supervising facility. These facilities oversee the visit, ensuring the safety of both the children and parents, while making sure no court orders are broken. Services that facilitate supervised parenting time also assist in supervision but also in the drop off and pick up of the children in a safe way. These facilities may have games and toys for the parents and children to utilize and may allow for the parents to bring in things for these visits. Typically, these facilities require a fee from the families or other have requirements, including geographical requirements, a court order requiring supervised parenting time, or the presence of domestic violence in order for families to qualify for their services. Parents may also use an individual paid supervisor to comply with supervised parenting time. A paid supervisor does not need to be someone at a facility, but someone neutral who will oversee parenting time and ensure court orders are being followed. These individuals typically have less requirements to qualify for supervision and exist in various areas in the city and suburbs. You can also frequently select the location for the supervised parenting time to occur, such as at public libraries or parks or one parent’s residence. However, travel time is often included as an expense for the time it takes these individuals to travel to a specific location for supervised parenting time.

The last type of supervision is by a specific person the parties know, trust, and agree to being present during parenting time. In this situation, it is likely that the specific person is present to make sure the parents and children are safe during the visit and that, again, no court orders are broken. The supervising adult is there to monitor the situation, make sure that the visit goes smoothly, and to protect the child from any potential harm. Using a person the parties know is a great solution as it provides more flexibility for scheduling supervised parenting time, is a free solution, and allows for more comfortability and organic interactions between the child(ren) and the parent being supervised. However, it is not always easy to find a person that both parents’ trust given that if there is court ordered supervised parenting time, trust between the parents has likely been broken. Therefore, it may be hard for both parties to find someone they each trust to supervise the parenting time effectively. This person must also follow the guidelines of the courts and protect the child from any dangerous behaviors of the supervised parent and accurately report any violations. Again, a party may hesitate to approve someone because they do not believe that they will be able to follow these guidelines or may believe that they are too aligned with the parent needing supervision to call out any bad behavior and adequately intervene.

There are a variety of other protections the court may put into place when restricting or limiting parenting time. The court may order the exchange of a child between the parents in a protected setting, this may occur at a police or fire station, another neutral location, perhaps with cameras, or at the child’s school. An intermediary may also be used to facilitate these transitions, meaning a third party may be required to be present at the exchange occurring at the parties’ homes. Additionally, a court may restrain a parent’s communication or proximity to the other parent or the child and may require parents to use an app to communicate with each other. The court may also order specific ways and times for the parents and children to speak with one another, like daily facetimes or phone calls. Finally, a court may require a parent to complete a treatment program or abstain from possessing or consuming alcohol or non-prescribed drugs in order to exercise their parenting time. The court is looking out for the child’s best interests and may require a parent to take drug tests, complete a rehab program, or participate in counseling to be sure that the parent is not putting their child in a dangerous situation while utilizing their parenting time.

When a court is considering restricting a party’s parenting time, or when a party is petitioning the court for this, the court will typically appoint a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) or Child Representative to investigate what is happening with the family. A GAL will make recommendations to the court on what will be in the best interest of the child while a Child Representative will advocate for and petition the court while representing the child as their lawyer. A GAL will make recommendations to the court on what they believe would be best regarding a party’s parenting time. In both positions, the individual will be able to monitor how the child is doing when one parent has restricted or supervised parenting time and report this back to the court.

In restricting or allowing for supervised parenting time, the goal is to rehabilitate a parent-child relationship that has suffered and rebuild a normal relationship while also ensuring the minor child remains safe. The court is able to use all of the above tools to accomplish this goal. In an ideal situation, the relationship between a child and parent will be rehabilitated and normalized so that any restrictions or limitations on parenting time are removed with time and the trust being rebuilt.

The Law Office of Erin M. Wilson is available to consult you on options regarding restricting parenting time or lifting parenting time restrictions. To schedule a consultation, contact The Law Office of Erin M. Wilson at 312-767-4220.

NOTICE: This blog is intended solely for informational purposes and should not be construed as providing legal advice. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have regarding this blog post.