The ARC CHILD CONTACT & EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SERVICE – (ACCESS)

ACCESS first opened in October 2011 to help children and young people maintain a relationship with an absent parent and/or family member in an environment that offers safety to all, particularly the children.

The Arc Child Contact Centre is one of fifteen centres (and 7 outreach satellite centres) across Northern Ireland who receive funding from the Department of Health and are committed to a high quality of service provision. All are subject to regulation and accreditation by the National Association of Child Contact Centres (NACCC), Arc being the only centre in the region to have sought and secured Enhanced Accreditation. The primary focus of all contact centres is to promote the best interests of the child rather than become involved in the dispute between parents and to this end the staff and volunteers who facilitate the contact service are completely impartial and do not take sides.

The Arc Child Contact Centre operates on a part time basis and provides contact sessions every Wednesday 5.30-7.30pm and every Saturday 10am – 1pm. We currently have vacancies in both sessions and are able to respond very quickly to referrals to the service and accommodate contact requests usually within a working week.

Referrals to the service generally are forwarded to the co-ordinator from Solicitors, Mediators, Social Workers, Court Orders/Court Children’s Officer or, in some instances, a self-referral directly to the co-ordinator can be accepted. When a family is referred to the contact centre, the co-ordinator arranges to meet both parents and the children (two separate meetings to facilitate Resident/ Non Resident parent) to confirm times and dates for contact and agree any arrangements re arrival/departure at centre e.g. if parents prefer not to meet each other.

The Arc Child Contact & Emotional Support Service Centre has proven to be an invaluable resource to a number of families across Fermanagh and further afield who have experienced problems sorting out contact arrangements in the traumatic aftermath of the breakdown of the parental relationship. The service is free and the staff and volunteers are all fully trained to respond sensitively to both adult and children’s anxieties, work to a strict confidentiality policy and have been vetted through ACCESS N.I. Criminal Records Checks.

For Further information you can contact the co-ordinator Maura Murphy on 07849366092 or Arc Healthy Living Centre, 60 Castle Street, Irvinestown, 028686 28741