Honored to Receive the Judith Wallach President’s Award on 9/22/26

At our Supervised Visitation Network board meeting on September 22nd, I was very honored and humbled when my fellow board members surprised me with the Judith Wallach President's Award. This award honors a person or persons for outstanding service and contribution to the Supervised Visitation Network. This award is named in honor of the SVN's first host.

I can personally attest to the hard work and dedication to the profession of offering safe, secure visitation in a comfortable, professional setting that everyone of these board members exemplifies. Through conferences, online trainings, and meetings, the board members of Supervised Visitation Network provide training at the forefront of Best evidence practice in the area of supervised visitation along with the most recent technological advances that support the work they do.

I have worked with Joe Nullet, CAE, our current executive director for a number of years, providing trainings for judges, SV professionals, and governmental, actors, on issues related to domestic violence and visitation. One goal of this organization has been to provide professional standards in this area, so that children, the victims of controlling behavior, and perpetrators, of coercive controlling acts may have access to safe locations for visits or exchanges.

Too often judges have limited visitation resources and at times children and victims are placed in dangerous situations, especially if there is not the proper, professional supervision needed to support the safety of all individuals involved. The goal of this organization is to educate all members of the system – judicial officers, lawyers, custody evaluators, and anyone else involved with visitation on the benefits of providing safe visitation spaces. This is an international organization with branches in Canada and Australia.

Oceans of gratitude to all the board members, past and present, for this honor. SVN President Kate Blair, Michon Trent, Hera McLeod , Valya Roberts, Kathleen Parsons, Melody Robinson, Dana Cahn Gordon, Shannon Sickler, Yvonne Draxler, Emmy Lita, Chrystal F. Fischer, Kelly Agee , Sheila Morris, Samantha Alvarez Benowitz, LCSW . Also staff members Jennifer Garst and Tami Matthews for all the support you give the board and the membership throughout the years! #supervisedvisitationnetwork #safevisits #svn

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