Erma's House Family Visitation Center

Erma’s House is a comfortable, homelike atmosphere that provides a safe, structured, neutral alternative to unsupervised visits. The Family Visitation Center offers a warm, friendly atmosphere where children of any age may visit with their non-custodial parents. Erma’s House was created to assist families that have difficulty interacting in a nonthreatening, appropriate manner. Erma’s House is structured to provide safety to both the custodial parent and the children. Parents must abide by the policies outlined in the House Rules.

The need for supervised visitation may be due to issues related to divorce or separation, protection/restraining orders between parties, threats, child abuse or neglect issues, safety concerns or other visitation issues where a neutral setting would increase a family’s level of comfort or safety.

How are families referred?
Families may be referred by the court, attorneys, social workers, child welfare workers, CASAs/GALs, clergy, or mental health professionals. Contact Erma’s House for a Referral Form and to discuss the process with the staff.

All scheduling of visitations and exchanges will be done by the staff of Erma’s House with input from the parties. Timing/scheduling is critical to the services of Erma’s House.

Who are the visitation staff?
The visitation staff are volunteers, interns and staff trained to monitor and appropriately intervene during visits. Their primary concern is the safety and well-being of everyone using the Center. Visitation staff will document every visit.

Additional Information about Erma’s House
Visitation hours vary to accommodate the family’s needs as well as the availability of staff. Erma’s House is open Tuesday through Friday as well as on Sunday afternoons. Most visits last one to two hours. Erma’s House has a variety of toys, games and activities for the families.

There is a $35 non-refundable application fee for both parties. Additional fees apply for families who reside outside Montgomery County or families whose court order is not from Montgomery County.

What services are offered at Erma’s House?

Supervised Visits

Visits are held at Erma’s House and are closely monitored by visitation staff who observe the visit, record activities, and intervene, if necessary, for the emotional or physical safety of the child.

Supervised Exchanges

Exchanges are for parents who are not required to have supervision while visiting their children but need to be able to make the exchange without interacting with the other parent. The exchange is monitored by a visitation supervisor.

Erma’s House
1046 Brown Street
Dayton, Ohio 45409
937-586-9586
937-586-9505 (fax)