MFCC to keep families together

By NATHAN LAMB | Milton Independent Staff Writer
mireporter@mac.com

Brian Townsend "Families Together Coordinator"

Conflicts over custody are often an unfortunate byproduct of broken homes, but a new program from the Milton Family Community Center (MFCC) is aiming to maintain parent-child relationships when the adults are estranged.

It's called “Families Together,” and it provides trained supervision and a safe meeting place for children visiting non-custodial parents, said program coordinator and social worker Brian Townsend.

Such arrangements are often court-ordered because of domestic violence, substance abuse, or custody battles, but can also be requested by the parents. Townsend said the grant-funded program exists because a child's need for both parents is generally recognized—provided that it's safe.

“With the program, children and the adults have an opportunity to have children meet with parents they've been estranged from in a friendly and safe place, where there's no worry about the child's safety; that's kind of the nutshell,” he said.

“In many cases there is no other way the kids can have safe interaction with one of the parents,” he continued. “This is a way to monitor visits so they can keep that relationship with the child.”

“The referrals are countless, there are so many cases that fall under it,” he added. “There's high demand for this program.”

Even so, Chittenden is currently one of three counties in the state that did not have a provider for the service. The county's previous provider closed in 2006, making such visitations much more difficult to arrange, said center executive director Brett Chornyak.

Filling that need was a big part of why MFCC stepped forward when the state put out an RFP to launch another program, said Chornyak. He described Townsend as the right person to do it.

“He's really energetic, motivated, and cares for people in need,” he said. “He brings a wealth of experience to our center, not only in supervised visitation, but also in providing services for people. He's an excellent compliment for our staff.”

A Maine native, Townsend originally studied eastern European history and planned to be a teacher. It was two years of teaching in a residential program for kids with behavioral and emotional disorders that put him on the path to social work.

By his account, kids who wound up in that program were often let down either by their families or the system, and that instilled Townsend with a desire to help them stay out of the residential setting. He subsequently earned certification for social work and spent three years doing intensive home counseling in Virginia, where his description included supervised visitations like the ones MFCC will provide.

History didn't totally fall by the wayside; Townsend took a detour to Poland last year, teaching English as a second language. At this point, though, the focus is back on social work and building Families Together program in Milton.

MFCC is planning to operate the program from three locations around the county, including the New Life Christian Fellowship building in Milton. The other two sites haven't been determined as of yet.

The fellowship building has a ‘50s-style café area, which will provide a comfortable setting, said Townsend. Church Pastor Robert Emery—who is also board president at the MFCC—attributed the partnership to a favorable confluence.

“We have a very suitable space for it,” he said. “It fits with our mission as a church and the family center's mission; it was a good fit all around.”