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40 verbatim requirements from administrative order 2026-02 - Administrative Order Governing Family Ties - A Supervised Visitation and Monitored Exchange Program, Orange County.
9th Judicial Circuit. Procedural information only; not legal advice.
Verbatim from https://ninthcircuit.org/sites/default/files/AO2026-02.pdf, harvested 2026-07-25; whitespace normalised only. • The Family Ties staff will determine, based upon the party’s income, the fee for said services and whether the fee shall be paid to the Clerk of the Court or to the provider directly. • Should the Court decide to refer a case to a provider other than Family Ties, the Court shall make available a list of area providers through the FSU Institute for Trauma and Resilience • All fees for such services to area providers through The Clearinghouse will not be set by the Family Ties program and shall be made directly by the party(ies) to said provider. -- 1 of 18 -- • These programs have developed on an informal basis ~d do not operate under any uniform standards or guidelines. • Accordingly, the chief judge of each circuit is hereby directed to enter into an agreement with supervised visitation centers that are willing to comply with the attached standards and effective July 1, 2000, trial judges, when ordering the parties to utilize a supervised visitation program, shall only order parties to supervised visitation programs that have entered into an agreement with the chief judge. • Supervised visitation programs operating under the auspices of the court shall comply with these standards by January 1,2000. • The visitation agreement shall also advise the clients that no confidential privilege exists as the program’s records, except as provided by law or order of the court. • Supervised contact programs in each judicial circuit shall determine the range of visitation services offered, dependent upon available resources. • If resources permit, services shall be offered for dependency, family law, domestic violence cases or other cases as designated by the chief judge. • Guiding Principles (1) For all supervised contact services provided by a program pursuant to a court order, the primary obligation shall be to the court. • (4) A program’s governing authority, training and experience of visitation supervisors, and other resources shall determine the range of services provided and number of clients served. • The judge shall also ensure that referrals are appropriate for the level of service available in a program. • Nothing in these standards shall be construed to restrict the court in ordering supervised visitation or exchange by the Department of Children and Families, any private mental health professional, and/or other third party as designated in a court order. 4 -- 9 of 18 -- • Each program shall have a governing authority as defined in these standards. • Administration of Programs (1) All programs receiving judicial referrals shall comply with these minimum standards. • (2) Program services shall be provided in a location suitable for the type of supervised contact services provided and be accessible for clients with various needs. • (3) Independent programs shall annually submit an Affidavit of Compliance with these minimum standards to the chief judge. • (6) A program must immediately notify the chief judge of any changes to a program’s role, function, operational policies and procedures and/or capacity that affect the program’s services provided to the court or its clients. • (7) A program shall comply with all applicable local, state, and federal laws, statutes and/or regulations. • A program shall have comprehensive written operating policies and procedures, which shall include, at a minimum: • Case Acceptance (1) Referrals from the court for any supervised contact service shall be by court order. • However, these standards shall not preclude programs from entering into contracts with entities other than the court, such as the Department of Children and Families. • (3) Programs shall not discriminate against any client due to race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, marital status, or inability to pay. • (4) A program shall decline to accept a case for which they cannot reasonably ensure the safety of all clients, program staff, and volunteers, including but not limited to the following reasons: a. the volatile nature of the case or client; b. visitation supervisors are not adequately trained to manage issues identified in the intake; c. facilities are not adequate to provide the necessary level of security; d. insufficient resources; or e. conflict of interest. • Intervene or Terminate Contact (1) A visitation supervisor shall intervene or terminate a supervised contact whenever he or she believes that the safety of clients, program staff, and volunteers cannot be reasonably ensured. • The child cannot be comforted for a period exceeding 30 minutes. 6 -- 11 of 18 -- (3) A visitation supervisor shall have the sole discretion to withhold presentation of any inappropriate item or gift from the noncustodial parent to the child. • Discharge (1) A program shall suspend or discharge clients for the following reasons: a. termination of court referral; b. safety concerns that cannot be addressed or other issues involved in the cases that cannot be effectively addressed by the program. • (3) A program shall immediately (within 72 hours) provide written notice to the court and the parties if: a. program services have been suspended or terminated under a condition outlined above; b. the parties agree that they can manage visits or exchanges without supervision; or c. the parties violate specific terms of the supervised contact as provided in the court order for supervised contact. • A program operating under the auspices of the court shall maintain records pursuant to rule 2.075, Florida Rules of Judicial Administration; independent programs shall maintain all records for a period of 5 years from the last recorded activity, or until the child reaches the age of majority, whichever occurs first. • A program shall maintain appropriate and accurate financial records and follow generally accepted accounting principles. • A program shall make written operating policies and procedures available for review, upon request of a client. • A program shall maintain a written personnel record for each employee or volunteer, including but not limited to: a. application or resume; 7 -- 12 of 18 -- b. job title/description; c. law enforcement records check; d. copy of a valid photo identification card recognized in this state for the purpose of indicating a person’s true name and age; e. documentation of employee or volunteer’s satisfactory completion of minimum training requirements provided in these standards; and f. any other documents obtained or created by the program pertaining to the employee or volunteer. • A program shall keep records of all supervised contact services provided pursuant to court order, including but not limited to: a. intake information to include at a minimum: • A program shall maintain all records in a discrete manner and shall not disclose, or participate in the disclosure of, information relating to a case to any person who is not a party to the cause, except in reports to the court or as provided by law or court order. • Each program shall have a policy protecting any information that might reveal the location of domestic violence victims and their children or any other information that is confidential, as provided by law or order of the court. • Release of case information shall be covered by written policies and procedures. • When such cases are accepted, the program must direct all communication to the referring court. 8 -- 13 of 18 -- • Complaints (4) A program must have written procedures regarding the internal management of complaints lodged by clients, or any other party to a case. • (6) Complaints about a program’s operational policies and procedures, administration, or management must be directed to the chief judge for resolution. • Security (1) A program must have written security policies that include: a. evacuation procedures in case of an emergency; b. agreements with local law enforcement; c. handling of critical incidents such as violent, dangerous, or inappropriate behavior of clients, for example, the attempted abduction of a child; and d. handling of medical emergencies, client, staff, or volunteer injuries, and worker’s compensation procedures.
The Family Ties staff will determine, based upon the party’s income, the fee for said services and whether the fee shall be paid to the Clerk of the Court or to the provider directly.
Reviewer note: Order PDF sha256: 58f58139e8abdb8f5ee6d7f1daf716919f85554b38dee087724693a8140a9de9. Extracted from the order's own text layer.
Judge Bell caps motions and responses at 5 pages for UMC hearings and 12 pages for special-set hearings.
Judge Alijewicz requires every motion for attorney's fees and/or costs to attach a document detailing time records — no records, no fee award.
Judge Corlew bars informal contact: every communication with the Court must be in writing, filed with the Clerk, with copies furnished to all parties — and no calls to the JA to schedule or cancel UMC.