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.
The evaluation found that immediately following the call, three in four respondents said they had a better understanding of social workers’ concerns, of the law, and of their rights and options. Importantly it found that three to six months later, 45% of respondents said the call had made a positive difference to the local authority’s plan for their child or services provided. Using a cost benefit model designed by New Philanthropy Capital, the evaluation found that for every £1 invested in the service, the state saves £15.58 by avoiding care and more intensive support costs.
The advice line is partially funded by the Department for Education. However, rising demand, combined with resource constraints, means that the charity can currently only answer four in ten callers.
“Children’s social care in England is currently in crisis, with a record number of children in the care system and the situation is projected to get worse.
“This new evaluation demonstrates our advice line helps families to understand their rights and options, navigate complex child welfare processes and get the support their child needs. By averting more children entering care, the service has saved the public purse nearly £15m the last two years.
“Combining social care and legal expertise, our advisers are making a real difference to the lives of children and families. With record numbers of families subject to intensive and often stressful interventions by the state, the evaluation demonstrates the positive impact of high-quality, personalised advice.
“But at present, our service can only answer four in every ten calls due to funding constraints. With such a positive return on investment in our advice line for both families and children’s services, I look forward to discussing the benefits of long-term investment in the service with ministers.”
You can find the full text of the report, alongside a summary report, here.
For further information, please contact jsmallman@frg.org.uk or call 07442 615992.
Family Rights Group’s mission is to create a more socially just society in which the child welfare and family justice systems support children to live safely and thrive within their family, while strengthening the family and community networks of those children who cannot live at home.
Family Rights Group runs a free, independent and confidential advice service for parents, grandparents, relatives and friends including kinship carers in England.
Monday to Friday 9.30am-3pm (excluding Bank Holidays)
0808 801 0366
Textphone 18001 followed by the advice line number
Parent looking for information and advice, can also use our Parents’ Forum: https://www.frg.org.uk/ParentsForum/
Kinship carers looking for information and advice, can also use our Kinship Carers’ Forum: https://www.frg.org.uk/FandFCForum/
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