Centrepoint to launch a Child Contact Centre

19 June 2023

​

Centrepoint will launch a new Child Contact Centre from 2 July. 

This follows the closure of Milli’s Separated Family Centre, which supported around 20 families a week. Milli’s will stop running the service on Sunday 25 June, following an announcement in May. 

The agreement of Centrepoint to continue to provide a Child Contact Centre means that the provision for separated families who need to be able to meet in a safe and secure space to ensure child contact will continue to run. This allows the families who use the service to enjoy continuity. 

Government funding of £81,000 has been granted to allow Centrepoint to run the service from their La Pouquelaye base for the next 12 months. 

The service will remain independent of Government and will be registered with the Jersey Care Commission and the National Association of Child Contact Centres. 

The role of a child contact centre is to allow a safe location to be provided for child contact to take place in a supervised environment. 

Jane Moy, Centrepoint’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “Our primary concern is for the wellbeing of children so establishing the centre will allow parents to continue to maintain a relationship with their child in the crucial early stages of family breakdown.” 

Eleanor Green, Jersey Family Court Advisory Service (JFCAS) Manager said: “We are delighted to see that the children and families we work with in the Family Court will have the benefit of this new centre, which will continue to ensure there is a safe, independent space for children to see a parent where there might be barriers due to family separation. We thank Milli’s for the vital work they have undertaken over the years and wish them well in their continuing initiatives supporting families.” 

Minister for Children and Education, Deputy Inna Gardiner said: “I know that many families rely on Milli’s Child Contact Centre to have valuable time with their child or children and it plays an important role in their lives. 

“I am very pleased that Centrepoint will provide this service and I’d like to thank Milli’s for all the support they offered to children and families. It is especially important that the families who use this service will have continued access to a safe, welcoming, and independent service. I wish everyone involved in this new Child Contact Centre all the very best.”