Introduction

If you are ‘looked after’ by children’s services, either under a care order or a Section 20 arrangement, you will usually be living away from your parents and siblings. Children’s services have a duty to make sure you have regular contact with your family, if it’s in your best interests.

Can I see my family if I am in care?

By law, children’s services must allow you reasonable contact with:

• Your parents
• Your guardian (if applicable)
• Anyone who had a court order for you to live with them before you went into care

They also have a general duty to support contact with wider family members, such as your grandparents and siblings.

Children’s services may not allow you to have contact with your family, or with certain family members, if they believe it would put you at risk of harm.

I want to have more contact with my family, what can I do?

Talk to your social worker about your views and feelings about contact. If you have an advocate, they can talk to the social worker for you.

When you are looked after, you will have a plan for the important aspects of your life. The is called your care plan. The care plan will explain what your needs are, how these needs will be met, and the general plan for your future. The care plan will also describe the contact arrangements with your family. You should be spoken to and listened to when the care plan is being written and when your plan is reviewed, so you should have a further chance to make your voice heard.

You should talk to your Independent Reviewing Officer if you can’t agree with children’s services about contact. Their job is to make sure your best interests are being met.

If you can’t agree on contact arrangements, you can make a complaint to children’s services. You should ask your advocate to help you with this.

Can I apply to court?

The court can decide on contact arrangements if you’re not happy with the level of contact that children’s services are providing. It’s also possible, and may be more straightforward, for your family to make the application to the court instead.

Talk to your advocate about this, as they may be able to help you access legal advice. You can also fill out the contact form on this website to receive initial advice from our team.