Visit Specialist Jessica Lardizzone has been providing a safe and fun atmosphere for children to visit with their non-custodial parents at our Nassau Supervised Visitation (NSV) program since 2012.
Jessica works incredibly well with pre-adolescent and adolescent girls that have experienced trauma. There have been several cases where the children will not visit with their visiting parent if Jessica is not present. She has a special way of making the children feel safe. She holds their hands and assures them that she will not leave their side during their visit.
Recently, Jessica expertly handled a case that she was not responsible for. The little girl (age 2) refused to enter the visiting room. Jessica, with her disarming smile and charm, walked up to the little girl and said, “Hi! Daddy is here to see you.” The little girl took her hand and walked into the visiting room without skipping a beat. The same thing happened the following week.
Jessica has a big heart and all of the children love her and want to play with her. She has no problem getting down on the floor to play with the children and helping visiting parents with strategies and techniques for engaging their children in fun, interactive, and age-appropriate activities during visits.
Jessica goes above and beyond the call of duty. She will come in for one hour just to supervise one case or to be with a child that will not visit without her presence. She is going to make a great social worker.
We commend her on her work and her Master’s Degree in Social Work, which she recently received from Fordham University.
To learn more about Nassau Supervised Visitation, click here.
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Dorothy Worrell is the Program Director of Nassau Supervised Visitation located in Hempstead. She has over 20 years of child welfare experience working with abused and neglected children in foster care as well as adoption and residential settings.
