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.
A special guardian is someone who has been granted a special guardianship order to provide that child with a permanent home until they reach 18. They are not the child’s parent, but they are the child’s main carer, who will raise them into adulthood.
Unlike adoption, the special guardianship order does not remove parental responsibility from the parents. But it does give the special guardian ‘exclusive’ parental responsibility. This means that when decisions need to be made for a child, the special guardian should still consult with the parents. But the special guardian has the final say and can make decisions that the parents do not agree with.
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