What is contact time with family?

Learn what contact time with family is and how you can make it a positive experience for a child.

This advice applies to: England and Wales

Informal contact arrangements are a decision made between you, the parents, or anyone else, as appropriate. Arrangements should consider the wishes of the child wherever possible. You might find it useful to put together an informal contact agreement.

If you have any problems with contact through informal kinship care you can reach out to Kinship for advice.

Read more about informal kinship care.

The Children Act 1989 states that there should be continued contact between the child and their parents while the child is looked after by the local authority: as long as it is in the best interests of the child. Contact with the child’s parents should be part of the discussion during the creation of the child’s care plan.

There are government guidelines for local authorities in arranging contact for looked-after children. These guidelines say the wishes of the child should be heard, and children should be helped to communicate their wishes where possible.

Read more about kinship foster care.

If your child arrangements order specifies who the child should spend time with (this was previously called a contact order), then, legally, you need to comply with this.

You might be breaking the order if you change contact arrangements. If this is the case speak with your solicitor.

You can stop the arrangement if it is a risk to the child (even if this breaks the order). You must let children’s services, and the court know if you change the arrangement in this case. You might be worried about parents taking you back to court to have the original contact arrangement enforced. The court may not make an enforcement order if it is satisfied that the person had a reasonable excuse for not continuing with original arrangement. Always seek legal advice if you are unsure.

Read more about child arrangements orders.

As part of the assessment to become a special guardian, children’s services will create a support plan with your input. The contact arrangement will include guidelines on how contact arrangements should go. It should also detail how you can access support with contact if you need it in the future.

Once a special guardianship order is made, special guardians are given the trust by the court to manage the contact arrangements. It is the responsibility of special guardians to monitor, agree and adapt the contact arrangements to make sure they are in the child’s best interests.

If you need support with contact arrangements, you can get back in touch with children’s services to ask for support.

Read more about special guardianship orders.


Support from Kinship

Here at Kinship, we offer a range of free support for all kinship carers, including  workshops, online advice and information, and support groups.

Contact the Kinship advice team to speak to an adviser or book an appointment.

Find services, information and support in your local area using our Kinship Compass, including information about your local children’s services.