WARREN - The Solace Center, a place for supervised visitation and safe child exchanges, faded away two years ago because it had run out of money.
The center went away due to growing case numbers and employee-associated costs that always outweighed the ability of clients to pay for the service. Grants that helped cover some of the expense eventually disappeared as well.
The result was a void for families who needed the service.
Child transfers since have been made at fast-food restaurants, police stations and in the homes of third-party family members.
Well, come January, the Solace Center, now backed by Family and Community Services in Portage County, will have a revival of sorts with a new location for safe child exchanges and parent visits.
Program director Mary Olesh, who ran the nonprofit before its closing in 2010, said Trumbull County Children Services is offering space at its building for exchanges and visitation.
''We're pretty much starting small, it's really a start from scratch,'' Olesh said.
November and December will be used to work out the referral process, she said. Once the program is running, the visits will be done on Sunday afternoons and the transfers, on the weekend - when CSB is closed.
Initially, Olesh said, it will be just her and a coordinator. She said she hopes to get help from interns, volunteers and maybe graduate students.
About 40 families in Trumbull County need the service, she said. Clients will be charged a small fee for the service.
Providing a small amount of seed money, about $24,000 is Trumbull County Family Court, which refers people in the court system to the program, said Family Court Judge Pam Rintala, who initially brought a group of people together in June to explore the idea of reviving the program.
Tim Schaffner, children services director, said there won't be access to the agency beyond the visitation rooms or access to the kids at the CSB residential center.
''It's a great idea to help them get started,'' Schaffner said.