Therapeutic Visitation Program

A Dauphin County Probation Office is transformed into a Therapeutic Visitation House in collaboration with Samara. Samara, a non-profit providing nurture and education for parents to break the cycle of abuse was founded in 2008 by a mother/daughter team, Jean Heigel and Pam Haddad. Collectively, they have over 65 years experience in children and youth services, fostering, teaching, counseling, or investigating in the field.

This project in collaboration with Dauphin County Children and Youth Services is a visionary approach to visitation between children in foster care and their biological parents. The goal is to reunite families after enriching parents with a deeper understanding of the importance of creating a safe, nurturing atmosphere in the home, and the skills to cope with the inevitable challenges parents face in raising their children – particularly those struggling with the abuses often inherent to low-income and poverty stricken communities.