Using the service
NOTE
Our Administration office is based at,
The Naomi Centre, 2A Cullybackey Road, Ballymena, BT43 5DF
Email contact@baccs.org.uk
BACCS welcomes referrals from solicitors, the court, social workers or by parents themselves.
To discuss a possible referral, please contact Paul Kelly (Coordinator) on 07849 498494.
Before contact can begin, the coordinator will carry out a pre-visit interview with each parent. Pre-covid, this would have taken place in your own home. Now this usually takes place over Zoom. Parents may wish to visit the centre in advance of the first contact visit and this can be arranged by the coordinator.
Attendance at the centre is not a long term solution to the problems with contact and will be subject to review as required. Most families use the centre for 3-4 months before coming to more permanent arrangements outside in the community.
After a period of contact within the centres some families move to using the centre as a handover point for the children. This allows the parent having contact to go outside for two hours with the children and return within 2 hours , in time for the other parent to pick them up. This is particularly useful where both parents are happy for contact to take place, but either can’t agree on handover, or don’t wish to meet at handover time.
If the visit is to take place outside the building. Written consent must be given by each parent in advance.
Contact is for 2 hours on a Saturday morning. The times are
Ballymena Centre is open on a Saturday morning 10.00am – 12.00pm. Ballymena also has a contact session on a Thursday afternoon by appointment.
Antrim Centre is open on a Saturday morning 10.30am – 12.30pm
It is often assumed that the person seeking contact is the father. This is not always true. We have mothers, grandparents and other siblings seeking contact.
Self Referral
Many families wish contact to take place, but would prefer it to start at a contact centre, however they are put off by the cost of using solicitors and the courts.
Referrals need not end up in court. Solicitors can draw up an agreement between both parent and submit a referral form to us.
Families can also self refer directly to us, however it does require both parents to agree to the contact and we would ask your permission to contact Social Services to ensure there are no reasons why contact cannot take place. A self referral is very simple. Just email us at contact@baccs.org.uk and we will forward you a Self Referral form and an information leaflet explaining the process.
