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.
A kinship carer is a family member or friend who raises children who are not able to live with their parents. Children raised by kinship carers feel loved and secure. But many kinship carers live in impoverished circumstances, and this can impact on support for the children:
We want to build a better picture of how the current system is working (and not working) and what changes would make the most difference.
We need more evidence on the challenges kinship families face. In particular, around access to financial support, and help with work including employment leave, welfare benefits and jobcentres.
We know some families, particularly those receiving disability related benefits, can find local authority allowances for kinship carers curtailed. The welfare system is also not set up to support kinship care arrangements.
Your feedback and experiences will help to inform our policy and campaigning activities with and on behalf of families. It will help us to hit the ground running after the election.
This survey is open to all relatives and friends raising children. We would particularly like to hear from families who are raising children who have disabilities, or where the carer or someone else in their household has a disability.
If you work with kinship carers, please pass the survey on to them!
Thank you so much! Your survey response helps us to make sure that we are campaigning on the issues that matter to you and gives us the evidence we need to back up our campaigns.
Your donation will help more families access expert legal advice and support from Family Rights Group.
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