JERSEY’S Care Commission has refuted allegations that ‘impossible’ regulations caused a child contact centre to close after operating for more than two decades.
The organisation – which regulates and inspects services for both adults and children – hit back at claims made by Milli’s Separated Family Centre, which yesterday announced the closure of its child contact centre. The service, which had been in operation for 23 years, sought to provide a safe environment for children of separated families to maintain a relationship with both parents.
A spokesperson for the family centre claimed that regulation introduced within the past two years had redefined the definitions of contact in a way that made it ‘impossible for us to do any work’.
The JCC has stated that the new standards are ‘achievable and appropriate’ and that all care providers were consulted before the changes were implemented.
In a statement, Milli’s Separated Family Centre said: ‘The draft regulations were adapted from the standards that the National Association of Child Contact Centres uses for supervised contact. Milli’s does not offer supervised contact, and in fact there are a number of different types of contact that were not covered under the draft regulations.’
They added: ‘The draft regulations essentially redefined the industry-understood definitions of various types of contact to bring them all under the definition of supervised contact. On its own this single issue surrounding the definitions of contact would have made it impossible for us to do any work.’
The family centre also said that ‘at no point’ during the consultation for the regulations did anyone from the JCC ask to visit the facility.
‘Many people have an idea that child contact centres operate like playgroups or nurseries, but that is not the case. Child contact centres are unique in their operation. It can be hard to understand without seeing it in person and we would have been delighted to welcome the Care Commission to observe the running of a contact centre with 23 years of experience,’ the statement continued.
However, responding to the claims, the JCC said: ‘Prior to developing these new standards, we hosted a consultation in September 2022, enabling Islanders to share their insights and feedback regarding the proposed standards.
‘We refute the allegations made in the statement made by Milli’s Separated Family Centre today. All of the providers of care were consulted prior to the implementation of the new standards and we have met with Milli’s to develop with them the standards they are required to meet, which we believe are achievable and appropriate. The new standards are required in supervised and supported centres.
‘We will continue to work with Milli’s Separated Family Centre to support them in their understanding of the requirements and to ensure that they can continue to function.’
