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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.
Second reading is the first time MPs get to debate the substance of a bill. With private members bills of this kind parliamentary time of debate can be more limited.
The Kinship Care Bill would:
This is a vital opportunity to raise awareness of kinship care and the challenges faced by children and families, in Parliament. We need to ensure the Government’s actions live up to its rhetoric on kinship care over recent months.
While it is rare for private member’s bills to succeed without support from Government, this is a good opportunity to lay down a marker on what support kinship carers should be receiving. The Bill has support from cross party MPs and Peers, kinship families and organisations across the sector – Government and other political parties need to hear that chorus of support.
“The Kinship Care Bill sets out three crucial areas where support for kinship carers needs to improve. It would help to tackle the financial hardship that too often impacts on families stepping up for children in times of crisis, and the educational disadvantage faced by the children they are raising. Family Rights Group is pleased to have worked with Munira and her team in developing the Bill.
“The inclusion of a single definition of kinship care written into primary legislation, based on our Time To Define Kinship Care proposals, is also a particularly vital step. Too often kinship care is not properly recognised nor understood. Without a broad definition in law, some carers are completely invisible to public services and are unable to access support.
“We urge the Government to match their warm words for kinship care with action, starting with taking forward the Bill’s measures. Supporters can get involved by reaching out to their MP and asking them to back the campaign.”
To help, contact your MP and ask them to:
You can find the name and email address of your MP here.
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