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Our advice service

We provide advice to parents, grandparents, relatives, friends and kinship carers who are involved with children’s services in England or need their help. We can help you understand processes and options when social workers or courts are making decisions about your child’s welfare.

Our advice service is free, independent and confidential.

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By phone or email

To speak to an adviser, please call our free and confidential advice line 0808 801 0366 (Monday to Friday 9.30am to 3pm, excluding Bank Holidays). Or you can ask us a question via email using our advice enquiry form.

Discuss on our forums

Our online advice forums are an anonymous space where parents and kinship carers (also known as family and friends carers) can get legal and practical advice, build a support network and learn from other people’s experiences.

Advice on our website

Our get help and advice section describes the processes that you and your family are likely to go through, so that you know what to expect. Our webchat service can help you find the information and advice on our website which will help you understand the law and your rights.

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Pause Stoke-on-Trent

About this service

Pause work with women who have experienced, or are at risk of, repeated pregnancies that result in children needing to be removed from their care. We aim to give women the opportunity to pause and take control of their lives, breaking a destructive cycle that causes both them and their children deep trauma. Pause work directly with women, so that no woman should ever have to experience the removal of a child more than once. Pause offers an intensive, supportive 18-month programme that involves a trusting relationship between a woman and their Pause Practitioner.

This service is available for birth families in

Stoke-on-Trent

Who is the service for?

  • The child’s birth mother (or pregnant mother)

At what point in the adoption process is support available? When adoption is:

  • Being considered (before court proceedings have started)
  • Being planned (including during court proceedings)
  • Has taken place

What support is available?

  • Advocacy support to help birth family members get their views across when dealing with children’s services and other official agencies
  • Counselling or therapeutic support
  • Support groups for birth families affected by adoption
  • Support for contact with an adopted child, including letterbox contact (contact is sometimes described as ‘keeping in touch’ or ‘family time’)

Where is support available?

  • In person, at a flexible location, such as your home
  • In person, at a specific location
  • Online, including virtual meetings or webchat
  • Over the phone

How to access the service?

  • Contact us directly if you want support (this is also known as self-referral)

How much support is available?

  • The service can provide support for the following duration: 18 months

Key details about the service

  • One-to-one support is available at this service
  • Additional support for people with disabilities, including learning difficulties and learning disabilities, is available at this service
  • Confidential interpreters or translation services are available at this service

Has the service been independently evaluated, with input from family members who have used the service?

Yes, the evaluation is online at: https://www.pause.org.uk/our-impact/
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Our funding means we can currently only help 4 in 10 people

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