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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.
Children’s services are under a duty to appoint an independent reviewing officer (IRO) for all looked after children. So that means a child who is in care under a court order should have one.
The independent reviewing officer works for children’s services. But they work independently of the child’s social worker. The law says that an independent reviewing officer must not have any direct management responsibility for the child’s case. And they must not have any budget holding duties for the child’s case either. This all helps to make sure their role is independent. This is set out in sections 25A and 25B of the Children Act 1989 and in regulation 45 of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010).
The child’s care plan must include the name of the independent reviewing officer (see regulation 5(d) of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010.
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