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.
Judged by an expert panel, the Family Justice Award was created to honour the memory of District Judge Nicholas Crichton, who pioneered the creation of Family Drug and Alcohol Courts to tackle parental substance misuse in care proceedings. The award is for the initiative that has done the most to help families avoid disputes and resolve problems, with a particular focus on co-creation with families themselves.
Lifelong Links, a Family Rights Group innovation, aims to ensure that children and young people in care have a positive support network around them to help them during their time in care and in adulthood.
An independent Lifelong Links coordinator works with a child to find out who is important to them. The coordinator searches for these people, and then brings the network together at the Lifelong Links family group conference to make a plan with the child and the local authority to ensure these relationships continue to grow.
Evidence shows that Lifelong Links delivers better outcomes for families and children. After taking part in the programme 78% felt an improved sense of identity and belonging, with the average number of family and friends connections increasing from seven to 26. Evaluations show that these reconnected relationships endure beyond the child’s Lifelong Links journey, providing a positive support network into adulthood.
“Everyone at Family Rights Group is immensely proud that our innovative Lifelong Links approach has received recognition from such a prestigious organisation. Winning when there are so many other worthy nominees is the cherry on the cake.
“We owe our success to many people. For children and young people, it takes a lot of courage to reach out to family or friends when you don’t know what response you will get. Independent Lifelong Links coordinators and social workers do an excellent job supporting them through the process and making sure strong foundations are laid for future relationships. Councillors and Directors of Children’s Services around the country have invested in us to bring this vital service to their children and young people in care. We thank all of these people.”
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