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.
Are you a parent, kinship carer relative or friend of a child who is involved with, or who needs the help of, children’s services in England? 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). 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 has template letters, advice sheets and resources about legal and social care processes. On Monday and Wednesday afternoons, you can use our webchat service to chat online to an adviser.
Social workers sometimes consider that a child is in urgent need of protection. In this scenario, children’s services can ask the court to make an emergency protection order.
An emergency protection order can only be made if the court decides that it is reasonable to believe the child will suffer significant harm if the order is not made.
An emergency protection order can sometimes be made at a hearing the parents haven’t been told about. This is called a ‘without notice’ hearing. This is rare. The court will only do this if it is not possible to notify the parents or if the court thinks the child could be in danger if the parents were told. If this happens, once they receive notice of the application and order, the parents can ask the court to end (‘discharge’) the order. They should get legal advice from a specialist solicitor who is a member of the Law Society’s children law accreditation scheme.
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