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.
The role of a local safeguarding children board is to make sure local services work together to protect children at risk of harm. It develops policies and procedures that local services must follow.
Every local authority was required by law to set up a local safeguarding children’s board. This requirement is set out in section 13 of the Children Act 2004. The Children and Social Work Act 2017 amended the law to make these arrangements more flexible.
These services still have to work together to protect children at risk but are free to decide how best to organise this.
A local area that wants to keep its safeguarding board can do so if it thinks that’s the best way to make sure services work together to protect children locally. They may have board members from other agencies such as education, youth offending services and Cafcass.
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