A brief history of Family Rights Group

Family Rights Group was founded by social workers, lawyers and families in 1974 in response to the injustices experienced by many families involved with social services and the unnecessary separation of children from their families. Family Rights Group has had some significant successes over the last 35 years: 

• Then social services could take away parental rights without going to court. Now they can't.
• Then parents were not included in their children's case conferences nor in reviews if their children were in care.  Now partnership working is enshrined in legislation.
• Then grandparents had no legal means to seek contact with their grandchildren if they were in care. Now they do.      

Family Rights Group has made a significant impact on the development of services to children and families.  We were instrumental in influencing the preparation of the 1989 Children Act and associated guidance, which introduced the key principle of working in partnership with parents to secure the best interests of children.

These achievements are in large part due to Family Rights Group consistently bringing evidence of injustices to the attention of politicians, practitioners and the media, and putting forward workable solutions in the interest of the child.

As ever, Family Rights Group is continuing to campaign for further reforms to improve the lives of children and families including: 

• A right to an assessment for support services if a parent, carer or agency with which the child is involved believes the child is 'in need';
• A right to  independent advice and advocacy for all families who become involved with children's social care services, so that children, parents and wider family members are enabled to have a clearer understanding of the processes in which they are involved, and greater ownership of decisions being made about their lives;
• A right to a family group conference (meeting) early in the process of any child welfare or protection case in order that services draw upon the strengths of the wider family and friends network to meet the child’s needs wherever possible; and
• That Government, as part of its anti-child poverty strategy, require local authorities to provide suitable support services and to introduce a national financial allowance for relatives who are raising family members who cannot live at home, to assist with the costs of bringing up vulnerable children who would otherwise need to be in care.

The need for our work:

There are 60,000 looked-after children in England.  This is an increase of 11% compared to ten years ago. This includes a steep rise of 16% in the number of children removed under a court order over the last decade.  Despite the rise in the number of children in care it is now widely recognised, including by government, that the care system in the UK fails many of our most vulnerable children.

Family Rights Group believes that not enough is done to prevent children being taken into care. Too often thresholds for specialist services are set so high that families' requests for assistance and support are rejected by social care services until problems escalate into child protection enquiries, and even then families often can't access the support they and their children need.  That is why the Charity works for better services for families and children, and to ensure that families' voices are heard during service planning and delivery.

There is substantial research that parents and families remain central to children's wellbeing, even when there are child protection concerns.  The vast majority (93%) of children with a child protection plan live with their families and 92% of children who are looked after eventually return to their families.  Plans for a child, including child protection plans, therefore need to involve mothers, fathers and the wider family, because they are central to the successful implementation of the plan.

Family Rights Group believes that more children could be supported at home or raised by family members with whom the child already has a bond.  The charity campaigns for improvements in legislation and services, so as to ensure that children and families are not failed. We estimate that there are four times as many children who cannot live with their parents, who are living with relatives or friends, than there are in the care system.  Most of these carers are impoverished grandparents, left to deal on their own with traumatised children. The evidence is that family and friends care arrangements often work best for the child.  Yet we know of placements that have faltered or broken down because of a lack of support from authorities. To date the needs of these children have been neglected - this must be addressed through a national framework, including a financial allowance for family and friends carers raising children who cannot live with their parents.