Family Bridges Program
Enrollment Criteria
Family Bridges is offered to a family in which a child’s view of a parent and other relatives is unrealistic, the child refuses contact with a parent or shows extreme reluctance to spend time with that parent, and the family needs help adjusting to court orders that place the child in the sole custody of the rejected parent and suspend contact between the child and the other parent until specified conditions are met.
Courts make such orders in cases where the evidence demonstrates that the rejected parent is better suited to meet the child’s needs, the child’s contact with the other parent will make it more difficult for the child to repair the damaged relationship, or the court determines that the parent with whom the child feels aligned will not provide adequate care for the child.
Family Bridges may also be appropriate to consider in situations where a child’s relationship with a parent is damaged to a less severe degree, but the child’s negative attitudes and behavior toward the parent are not a reasonable and proportionate response to that parent’s behavior toward the child. Some adult children who are alienated from a parent participate in a Family Bridges workshop.
The Family Bridges is offered to
families when
- a child’s view of a parent and other relatives is unrealistic
- the child refuses contact with a parent or shows extreme reluctance to spend time with that parent
- the family needs help adjusting to court orders that place the child in the sole custody of the rejected parent and suspend contact between the child and the other parent until specified conditions are met
- the child’s negative attitudes and behavior toward the parent are not a reasonable and proportionate response to that parent’s behavior toward the child
What Judges, Parents, and Children Say About Building Family Bridges™
“If it were not for the Family Bridges workshop we would never be where we are now. Now things are going really
well with the kids. My son has been talking so much about all his thoughts and feelings about what has happened
these last few years . . . Things are relaxed, with nothing more than the normal ups and downs of daily life.”
a formerly alienated mother of two teens
What Judges, Parents, and Children Say About Building Family Bridges™
“It has been one year since we were awarded custody of the children. It has been a phenomenal year… so full of
blessings. The children have adjusted so well, have made terrific friends, and have excelled in school. We are a
family.”
a grateful parent
What Judges, Parents, and Children Say About Building Family Bridges™
“The kids are doing amazing. I am so happy!! People keep remarking that they are completely different kids.
My daughter is enjoying being a teenager and it is amazing to be able to text her and laugh with her (when she’s
not being a typical crazy teenage girl) and get to be her Mom again.”
a formerly alienated mother
What Judges, Parents, and Children Say About Building Family Bridges™
“It was an educational program consisting of no apparent purpose other than the delivery of information and
the children could do with it what they pleased. By Day Two both sons asked if their dad could participate in
the intervention. The intervention gave us a method of communicating that enabled us to move beyond the effects of
the divorce. For the first time in years, I felt I could have a normal conversation with my sons.”
a formerly alienated mother of two teen sons
The Family Bridges Workshop is a structured, four-day education experience to help alienated children and a rejected parent begin restoring a positive relationship in a relaxed setting.
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