About the Children's Service
Shelter’s Children’s Service identifies new ways of preventing child homelessness and delivers practical pilot projects to support children and young people who experience homelessness, enabling them to achieve better outcomes.
Tens of thousands of children in Britain are homeless. Growing up without a permanent home shatters their health, education and wellbeing. Homelessness leads to chronic insecurity, poor health, families at breaking point, and forces children to grow up on the edge of society: anxious, depressed and often out of school.
Shelter’s solution
For more than 40 years, Shelter has campaigned for a decent home for all. Now we are tackling the shocking scale of this hidden problem with the children's service – our blueprint to end child homelessness.
- We provide advice and support to agencies working with homeless and badly housed children and their families through the Children’s Service Advice Line.
- We promote good practice to bring about lasting change.
- Our dedicated Children’s Legal Service fights for fairer laws.
- We get direct, practical help to vulnerable children, including 16 and 17 year old young people who are living independently.
- We work with local, regional and national Government.
Children’s Service Advice Line
The Children’s Service Advice Line was established in 2007 and was initially set up to provide housing advice to children’s centre staff working with families in housing need. More recently this service has been made available to a wider group of children’s services professionals in both statutory and the voluntary sectors.
Regional Children’s Co-ordinators
Our team of Regional Children’s Co-ordinators, based in Liverpool, Newcastle, London and Bristol work with housing and children’s services to facilitate the take up of good practice models and tools. They contribute to effective changes in policy and practice within mainstream agencies working with children, young people and families.
Children’s Legal Service
Our Children’s Legal Service has been established to influence changes in the law as it affects homeless children and families by undertaking test cases and policy work.
