Program Highlight: Faith &Liberty's Place

Faith and Liberty Battaglia were tragically killed by their father in 2001 as their mother listened through the phone. To honor their lives, The Family Place created Faith and Liberty’s Place in 2003.

Faith and Liberty’s Place (FLP) is a safe, neutral environment for supervised visitations or monitored parent exchanges. Parents’ issues stemming from domestic violence, such as divorce or custody battles, often get in the way of a child’s safety. FLP prioritizes the safety of both children and parents to prevent any abusive behavior.

Most FLP clients are court referrals due to a history of family violence. While clients must reside in Dallas county, they do not have to be clients of The Family Place. FLP is one of the only visitation sites that is free for clients, allowing non-custodial parents to spend time with their children without any financial burdens.

The visiting and custodial parents park in separate parking lots, enter through separate entrances and arrive at different times to keep both parties safe from interacting with their partner. When the custodial parent arrives, he or she leaves the children with an FLP staff member to facilitate the visit. Once the supervised visitation concludes, the custodial parent leaves with the children and the visiting parent must wait an additional 30 minutes before leaving the premises.

In one day, there can be roughly five to six clients that use FLP for visits. Our sight supervisor, Ja’Sprie Mickens, ensures that all visitations run smoothly for our clients since the site consistently operates at capacity. With a CPS background, Ja’Sprie has always prioritized children’s safety and is glad to work more closely with families.

“My goal is to always put the child first. These children do not deserve to be caught up in grown up situations that are out of their control,” says Ja’Sprie.

Clients are so appreciative of FLP because it allows children to maintain relationships with both parents while preventing any further conflict from arising. This one-on-one supervision of visits by an FLP staff member allows families to get the most out of their time together. In providing a safe space for visits and exchanges, we can continue to make Dallas a safer community.