When a child enters foster care, the bonds with their birth family members don’t disappear. Instead, they become more complex, and essential to maintain whenever possible.
Foster care visitation helps children in foster care continue those connections, offering a pathway toward healing and family reunification.
In many cases, visitation is not only encouraged, but legally required as part of the child’s case plan. And foster parents play a significant part in the success of these visits.
Whether you’re already fostering or just starting to explore becoming a foster parent, it’s natural to have questions about how visitations work — and how they may affect you and the child in your care.
Foster care visitation refers to planned, court-approved contact between a child in foster care and members of their biological family. The purpose of these visits is to help maintain relationships and support emotional connections during an otherwise disruptive experience.
Depending on the circumstances, visitation may involve:
Visits may be supervised, unsupervised, or therapeutic. They can take place in locations such as a visitation center, organization’s office, community setting, or family home.
More than 368,000 children are in foster care in the U.S. at any given time. Kids enter foster care for many different reasons, but in each case there is an interruption in the child’s life that can make them feel scared, anxious, and uncertain about the future.
Maintaining relationships with biological family members through visitations can help address the sense of loss and confusion these children often experience.
Visitation doesn’t just support children in foster care, either. It also gives birth families the chance to stay engaged and show their commitment to reunification.
For children, the specific benefits of foster care visitation include:
When you support visitations as a foster parent, you are helping the child in your care maintain family connections. This gives you the opportunity to be a bridge of stability during a stressful time for the child in your care.
At the heart of fostering is the hope that children in foster care can safely return home to their families. While not every case ends in reunification, it remains the preferred outcome whenever possible, and visitation plays an important role in making this happen.
Regular, positive contact through foster care visits can strengthen parenting skills and demonstrate parental effort and growth on behalf of birth families. In fact, more frequent birth parent visits are linked to shorter foster care placements, according to data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being.
For children in foster care, consistent visitation helps them maintain trust in their birth parents and see evidence of progress firsthand.
Ultimately, successful reunification isn’t just about meeting legal requirements. It’s about rebuilding relationships, which visitation encourages.
After a child is placed in foster care, the court will determine whether visitation is in their best interest and under what conditions. If allowed, their social worker coordinates a visitation plan based on safety, logistics, and the child’s emotional and developmental needs.
Visitations with a child in foster care can vary. The type of visit depends on each family’s circumstances, the child’s needs, and court or organizational requirements.
Supervised visitation is the most common type, especially early in a case. A trained professional — such as a caseworker or visitation specialist — is present during the entire visit to ensure the child’s safety and to document interactions.
For foster parents, this may mean transporting the child to the visit and providing emotional support before and after. However, foster parents generally do not stay in the room during the actual visit. Most supervised visits take place in child welfare offices or other neutral locations.
When structured thoughtfully, supervised visits provide children in foster care with safe, positive contact with their birth family under professional guidance.
Unsupervised visits are typically approved once the court determines the birth parent or family member is meeting expectations and can provide a safe, stable environment. These visits allow for natural bonding and may take place in the parent’s home, at a park, or another community space.
Examples of safety criteria a court might set for unsupervised visits include keeping a hazard-free home, maintaining sobriety, and being able to provide basic caregiving needs.
Unsupervised visitation is often a key step in moving toward reunification between kids in foster care and their birth families.
Therapeutic visitation involves a licensed therapist who facilitates and guides the visit. These sessions are structured to:
Therapeutic visits are often used in complex cases that involve prior trauma or behavioral challenges.
While the goals of visitation are generally clear, there are potential obstacles that may come up during the process. Foster parents can prepare and do their part to support the child in their care and work towards the best outcome for everyone.
Safety is always the top priority for foster care visitations. In cases of abuse or neglect, supervised or therapeutic visits are used to protect the child in foster care, while still supporting the possibility of connection and healing for the family.
Foster parents can play a key role by observing and documenting a child’s emotional or physical state before and after visits. They can promptly report any concerns to the caseworker. This can include noticing changes in the child’s mood or behavior.
At the same time, foster parents must be careful to avoid asking the child in their care for details about what was said or done during visits. Children in foster care are not required to disclose private interactions, and being pressured to do so can interfere with reunification goals.
Visitations can stir up intense emotions for everyone involved. Children in foster care might feel:
It’s also common for children in foster care to regress, have nightmares, or act out behaviorally around the time of visitations. Foster parents can help by offering stability, predictability, and open dialogue about feelings.
This is also an opportunity to show love to a child in foster care by validating their experience and reassuring them they are safe.
Visits must be arranged around school, therapy, court dates, and the availability of all parties. With careful planning, visitation schedules can be worked out for everyone.
For families fostering alongside biological children, scheduling challenges can also affect household dynamics and routines. Setting boundaries and communicating clearly with your caseworker can help reduce stress.
Foster parents are not responsible for managing visitations but they do have some important tasks for the best interest of the child in their care.
Foster parents can make a big difference in keeping a positive approach to visitation:
Who can participate in foster care visitation sessions?
Visitation may include biological parents, siblings, grandparents, or other significant individuals approved by the court. The child welfare organization must vet all participants, and some may require supervision depending on the case.
How often do foster care visits happen?
This depends on the court order and case plan. Visits may occur weekly, biweekly, or monthly, and may increase in frequency as reunification nears.
What happens if a child in foster care doesn’t want to attend visits?
Children’s preferences are important and should be discussed with their caseworker or therapist. Avoid forced visits, especially if they cause distress. Instead, work with professionals to explore why the child feels resistant and find appropriate solutions.
Are foster parents responsible for transportation to visits?
In some cases, yes. Organizations may provide transportation or ask foster parents to assist. This can depend on location, staff availability, and the logistics of the visit.
Foster care visitation helps children in foster care feel remembered, rooted, and loved while living apart from their birth family. It also supports reunification, shortens time in foster care, and reduces mental health issues when done consistently and thoughtfully.
Every visit — when safe and supported — is a step toward healing.
Want help supporting family connection during foster care? Talk to a foster care expert today to learn how to make a difference in a child’s journey toward stability and belonging.