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 APPG made a submission to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care in England ‘Call for Ideas’.
The Group called for a new National Strategy for Kinship Care to ensure:
The APPG celebrated Kinship Care Week (October 4th to 10th) with parliamentarians from across the political spectrum calling for better support and recognition for kinship carers.
Chair, Andrew Gwynne MP, wrote for The Mirror about his experience of being a kinship carer to his grandson, Lyle. Read the article here.
Andrew highlighted the challenges many kinship carers face in navigating the complexity of the family justice system without support and called for an expansion of legal aid for kinship carers. With over half of kinship carers having to give up work or reduce their hours as a result of becoming kinship carers, Andrew also pressed the case for paid kinship care employment leave.
Following the government’s ministerial reshuffle, the Group’s officers wrote to the new team at the Department for Education, inviting them to meet with the APPG.
Secretary of State, Nadhim Zahawi MP, was Children’s Minister at the time of the launch of the Parliamentary Taskforce on Kinship Care. He pledged to be the ‘voice of kinship care in government’ and the Group look forward to supporting him to be that voice as Secretary of State and particularly in relation to the imminent Spending Review. The letter was copied to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Read the letter here.
The Group also wrote to the new Minister of State for Children and Families, Will Quince MP, asking him to put kinship care on his initial list of priorities. Read the letter here.
New funding has been announced by the Department for Education for schemes to provide advice and support for kinship carers. It includes £1 million to increase the number of local kinship carers support groups and additional funding for Family Rights Group’s free specialist legal and practice advice line. The APPG welcomed the announcement and called on the Government to bring forward a Kinship Care Strategy. Read more.
The APPG held a meeting with Josh MacAlister, Chair of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care in England, to discuss the Review’s initial work and how it proposes to support kinship care. Read about the meeting here.
The APPG held its inaugural Annual General Meeting on Monday 8th March via Zoom. The group welcomed guest speakers: Enza Smith (Kinship Carers UK) and her grandson Bradley, Clare Walsh and Elaine to share their experience of kinship care. Read more about the meeting here.
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