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.
Every foster carer has a supervising social worker. Their role is to provide the foster carer with ongoing support, guidance and supervision.
The supervising social worker is not the same person as the foster child’s social worker. The two social workers will work closely together.
The supervising social worker will visit the foster carer regularly. This is to ensure the foster carer is meeting the child’s needs. This should include at least one unannounced visit a year.
They will ensure the foster carer is receiving all the support they need. This includes any further training and breaks from caring. The supervising social worker must carry out an annual review with the foster carer.
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