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 Department for Education have today announced additional funding for schemes to provide advice and support for kinship carers:
The Department also announced changes in the recently revised School Admissions Code which includes some children in kinship care arrangements in the priority groups for in-year school admissions.
The announcement follows proposals made last year by the Parliamentary Taskforce on Kinship Care, which highlighted the importance of specialist legal and practice advice to help families understand their rights and options when dealing with children’s services and the courts, and also the value of kinship carer peer support groups.
“Research shows the many benefits to children, who cannot safely live with their parents, of being raised by loving family or friends. But becoming a kinship carer is a lifechanging step for families and it can be difficult to get the right information and support for the child and the carers.
“One of the biggest challenges can be understanding how children’s services and the family court works and what your rights and options are as a prospective kinship carer. Yet what support the child and carers are entitled to largely depends upon getting the right information and legal advice from the outset. Family Rights Group’s specialist Advice Service is a really helpful resource for families to get free independent legal and practical advice on how to navigate these situations.
“Many carers told the Parliamentary Taskforce that where they had a local kinship carer support group, the practical and emotional support from people in similar situations was really beneficial too. We’re pleased the Government have responded to our call for more funding for support groups and we hope this new investment will ensure that more kinship carers can access a support group in their area.
“This is important progress and we’re pleased the Government are beginning to give kinship care the recognition and support it needs. The announcement has been made alongside the publication of the Government’s Adoption Strategy – we now need to see the same level of focus given to a Kinship Care Strategy.”
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