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P.A.L.S. Program
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ALEX & BRANDON CHILD SAFETY CENTER The Alex & Brandon Child Safety Center provides a welcoming place where families in crisis can visit with each other in safety. The center offers a child-friendly space for court-ordered supervised visitation as well as for picking up and dropping off children for visits with non-custodial parents where there has been domestic violence. The Center is named after four- and five-year-old brothers who had attended our children's support group and were murdered by their father during an unsupervisied visit. The Alex & Brandon Child Safety Center is the first visitation center in Minnesota built specifically for visitation and exchange purposes. The Center, located in Brainerd, provides services that are either not available in our four-county region (Crow Wing, Cass, Aitkin or Wadena counties) or are available on a limited basis only. Although the Center has gone to great lengths to assure a "user-friendly" nature, safety has not been neglected. Custodial and non-custodial parents arrive at different times and enter different doors; doors between the two areas are kept locked so there is no contact between the parents. Cameras constantly monitor both the inside and outside of the building. Outside doors are locked at all times and no one is admitted without identification. Trained personnel are on duty during visitations and exchanges. Since the doors opened in September of 2000, the Alex & Brandon Child Safety Center has engaged in a variety of activities aimed at achieving the goal of helping families become safe and nurturing members. The most visible of these activities are the supervising of visits and safe exchanges. To date, over 4,200 supervised visits and over 1,800 safe exchanges have been successfully completed. This has kept the center so busy that additional staff was required. Sundance, the Alex & Brandon Child Safety Center's therapy dog is a favorite among children. Certified by the Delta Society, Sundance works closely with staffer Julie on animal-assisted activities. She has proved to be a big hit by spreading her joy and calm and is, without a doubt, the most asked about staff member at the Center. If you would like an Alex & Brandon brochure, are interested in arranging a supervised visit or safe exchange, or have a church or community group interested in learning more about the Alex & Brandon Child Safety Center, please call 218-828-0022. We are also available via fax at 218-828-1122 or email at anblouise@qwest.net |
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P.A.L.S. Program Battered Women's Program Women's Q & A Volunteer Program |
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Alex & Brandon Child Safety Center Women Rising Newsletter Links Home |
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Women's Center of Mid-Minnesota |
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PO Box 602 ·
Brainerd, MN 56401 |
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