Family Rights Group (FRG) devotes itself to advising parents and extended families when social workers become involved with a child’s welfare. Often, families first encounter FRG in the midst of crisis—say, after a domestic-violence incident triggers a safeguarding concern. FRG helps them grasp the local authority’s responsibilities, child protection procedures, and the steps required to prevent a child’s removal. While some domestic-violence survivors worry about social services blaming them for “failing to protect,” FRG’s guidance clarifies how to engage constructively with professionals, ensuring that support, not punishment, is the outcome.
Beyond domestic abuse, FRG offers expertise on everything from kinship care arrangements (where grandparents or relatives become primary carers) to legal processes like child-in-need plans or care proceedings. Their approach is founded on family preservation wherever safe and viable: they believe that with the right resources and clarity, many families can overcome difficulties and keep children at home. FRG also runs a free legal advice line, staffed by solicitors and child-welfare experts, who demystify jargon-laden procedures like Section 47 investigations or Public Law Outline meetings.
Key Services
- Specialist Advice Line: Helps parents or kinship carers understand child protection plans or impending court actions.
- Advocacy for Families: Ensures they have a voice in child-protection conferences and can propose safe solutions if needed.
- Publications & Guides: User-friendly resources on everything from dealing with social workers to alternative care arrangements.
- Kinship Care Support: Advice for grandparents or relatives stepping in to raise children from broken or unsafe homes.
Why It’s Valuable
In Public Children Proceedings, once Social Services intervene, the stakes skyrocket: children might be put on protection plans or even removed. For domestic-abuse survivors, the fear of losing child custody can be paralysing, making them reluctant to disclose the full extent of the abuse. FRG offers a lifeline, showing parents how to build a partnership with social services, emphasising the child’s best interests while also addressing the parent’s own safety.
Their kinship care focus ensures extended families get the support they need to keep kids within their familial networks, limiting the trauma of going into foster care. Overall, FRG stands firm in protecting children’s right to family life, shining a light on solutions that keep them safe and cared for within their own communities
Website: https://frg.org.uk/
Registered Charity Number: 1015665