By phone or email
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.
Yes, if there are care proceedings.
That plan deals with the short-term arrangements for the child. It will be in place during the care proceedings. But it may be updated during the proceedings if the needs of the child change. The Family Court must look at and approve the interim care plan. The court must do this before making any court orders that aim to help put the plan in place.
This plan tells the Family Court what children’s services think the right long-term plan for the child is. The court must have a final care plan before it can make final decisions about:
This must be the final plan that has been approved by the Family Court.
The independent reviewing officer is a social worker whose role is to make sure that children’s services are meeting the child’s needs. So, it is important they have a final copy of the court care plan so they can make sure the things in the plan happen.
If children’s services change the court care plan after a care order has been made, a social worker must discuss the proposed changes with:
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