Caseworkers must not leverage parent or child visitation as a condition to encourage parents to agree to the terms of a mediated agreement.

Caseworkers must consider the following factors for visitation:

  •   Visitation is a right of both the child and parent. The caseworker must base decisions regarding visitation solely on the child’s safety and the child’s best interests. A caseworker must only agree to visitation as part of a mediated settlement if he or she believes that visitation is safe for the child. The caseworker must not agree to visitation if he or she does not believe that visitation is safe.

  •   Visitation must not interfere with achieving the child’s permanency goals, including preparing the child to enter into a permanent living situation, such as adoption. See 5573.4 An Agreement to Relinquish Parental Rights Must Reflect a Child’s Permanency Goals.