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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.
The All Party Parliamentary Group on Kinship Care held an inquiry into access to legal aid for kinship carers and potential kinship carers.
The inquiry, launched in January 2022, heard from hundreds of kinship carers across England and Wales. It also took evidence from leading legal practitioners and organisations in child and family law, and from non-for-profit advice services.
In May 2022 the APPG published its findings and recommendations in a new report: ‘Lost in the legal labyrinth: How a lack of legal aid and advice is undermining kinship care’.
The report shines a spotlight on, and sets out proposals for addressing, the challenges carers and prospective carers face in stepping forward and navigating the family justice system, in England and Wales, to support the children they are raising to thrive.
Supporting kinship care will ensure better outcomes for children and reduce strains on the care system and the Family Court.
The report shines a spotlight on, and sets out proposals for addressing, the challenges carers and prospective carers face in stepping forward and navigating the family justice system, in England and Wales, to support the children they are raising to thrive.
DownloadThe inquiry’s full terms of reference are set out here.
Oral Evidence Session 1
Members heard evidence from kinship carers with lived experience of the family justice system and from an experienced family legal practitioner. A written note from the session can be read here.
Family Rights Group launch a survey for kinship carers to help inform the APPG’s work.
The group has begun to accept written evidence requests. If you wish to contribute, please contact jhall@frg.org.uk. The deadline for submissions is 4th April 2022.
Oral Evidence Session 2
Members heard evidence from legal organisations working across children’s law. A written note from the session can be read here.
The APPG received the following written evidence submissions:
The APPG published its final inquiry report: ‘Lost in the legal labyrinth: How a lack of legal aid and advice is undermining kinship care’. The report shines a spotlight on, and sets out proposals for addressing, the challenges carers and prospective carers face in stepping forward and navigating the family justice system, in England and Wales, to support the children they are raising to thrive.
For more information or to sign up for the APPG’s mailing list, please contact Jordan Hall jhall@frg.org.uk.
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