How to contact us for advice

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Our advice service

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.

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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). For Textphone dial 18001 followed by the advice line number. Or you can ask us a question via email using our advice enquiry form.

Discuss on our forums

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.

Advice on our website

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.

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Lifelong Links Service Accreditation

Family Rights Group is the leading authority on Lifelong Links and has been at the forefront of developing and promoting high standards of Lifelong Links practice.

Family Rights Group have developed a set of nine standards which set out the basic requirements which should be expected from those services delivering Lifelong Links.

All Lifelong Links services are welcome to apply to become accredited. Accreditation lasts for three years.

Local authorities with an accredited Lifelong Links service:

  • Doncaster Council
  • Hertfordshire County Council
  • Coventry City Council
  • Kent County Council

Local authorities working towards Lifelong Links accreditation:

  • Bath and North East Somerset Council
  • Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea & Westminster City Council
  • Birmingham Children’s Trust
  • Camden Council
  • Denbighshire County Council
  • Leeds City Council
  • North East Lincolnshire Council
  • Newport City Council
  • Oxfordshire County Council
  • Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council
  • Tower Hamlets Council
  • Wandsworth Borough Council
  • Swindon Borough Council
  • St Helens Borough Council
  • Portsmouth City Council
  • East Sussex County Council
  • Lancashire County Council
  • Blackpool Council
  • Plymouth City Council
  • Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
  • North Lanarkshire Council
  • Glasgow City Council
  • Edinburgh City Council
  • Perth & Kinross Council
  • Midlothian Council
  • West Lothian Council
  • Falkirk Council

The accreditation framework sets out the minimum requirements for a Lifelong Links service to be accredited and provides:

  • Clear guidance as to how services should operate;
  • A benchmark against which a service can be measured; and
  • An opportunity for external peer led scrutiny of practice.

The framework draws together a number of elements encompassing:

  • A set of standards pertaining to Lifelong Links practice; and
  • Training requirements and support for Lifelong Links coordinators.

In order to submit a portfolio for Lifelong Links accreditation, the family group conference service must be accredited, or if submitting both portfolios together then the service’s family group conference practice will be assessed and accredited prior to Lifelong Links practice being assessed.

To find out more about Lifelong Links accreditation including costings, please email Jordene Sewell jsewell@frg.org.uk.

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Our funding means we can currently only help 4 in 10 people

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