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 33 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 over 60,000 looked-after children in England. This is an increase of 19% compared to ten years ago. This has been a particularly steep rise (34%) 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, or being subject to an intimidating child protection system that offers children and families insufficient support. Too often families' requests for assistance and support are ignored 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 organisation 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 (88%) of children on the child protection register 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 their family, because the family is 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.
