How to contact us for advice
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.
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). For Textphone dial 18001 followed by the advice line number. Or you can ask us a question via email using our advice enquiry form.
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.
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.
This is someone who has been assessed and approved as suitable to look after a child. They can be approved by a fostering service in children’s services. Or they may work with an independent fostering agency.
An approved foster carer might be approved generally to look after any child in care. Or they may only be approved to care for a specific child. For example, family members or friends can be assessed as a carer for a child in their family. In this situation, a kinship carer is only approved to look after that specific child.
If the child needs to be placed with a kinship carer straight away and there is not time for a full assessment, then the relative can be temporarily approved. This is done under Regulation 24 of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010. In such a situation, the social worker will need to carry out some immediate checks. The kinship carer will still need to undergo a full fostering assessment if the child is to remain with them long-term.
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