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.
Yes. Children’s services have a legal duty to promote contact between the child and their parents, wider family and other people connected to them (see paragraph 15 of schedule 2 of the Children Act 1989). This means they should make arrangements for a child in care to keep in wider family members. And they should keep to this duty unless the court says they don’t have to.
Government statutory guidance describes how important wider family can be to children in care. The guidance is called ‘The children Act 1989 guidance and regulations: Volume 2: care planning, placement and case review’ and says:
‘Grandparents and other relatives can provide a sense of family history and continuity where the child cannot live with his/her birth parents yet contact may easily be lost if the child becomes looked after’ (see paragraph 2.84)
A major review of research about children having contact with families has found that children benefit from contact with grandparents, siblings and wider family members. This type of family contact has a positive impact on relationships and the role that family members can play in providing support after the child leaves care. There is more information about this in the Messages from research and tips for discussing contact with social workers section.
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