Children's Service Advice Line

Shelter runs a dedicated telephone advice line that provides free, confidential and independent advice and information to Children's Centres working with families who have at least one pre-school child and are experiencing housing problems.

Do you need housing advice? Please note this service is for Children's Centre staff only. If you are seeking advice about your own housing situation, please call our free national helpline on 0808 800 4444.

How do I contact the Children's Service Advice Line?

The Children's Service Advice Line is available to staff working in or out of Children's Centres across England. Call 0845 421 4444, from 10am-4pm, Monday-Friday.

How can the Advice Line help?

Shelter's Children's Service Advice Line helps Children's Centre staff support families in housing need. It offers direct access to Shelter's specialist advisers, who will provide you with expert information to pass on to the family.

We can also refer more complex housing issues to one of our Housing Aid Centres, where a caseworker will then work with the family directly. Shelter housing advisers provide information, advice and advocacy on the full range of housing issues.

The Advice Line can help if families using your Children's Centre need advice on any of the following problems:

• severe disrepair
• rent arrears or mortgage arrears
• family breakdown or domestic violence
• overcrowding
• living in temporary accommodation
• problems accessing housing benefit or council tax benefit
• preventing eviction or repossession
• homelessness (including local authority duties)
• any other housing-related issue.

What information will you need to supply about the case?

Before you call us, you will need to interview your clients. Please have the following basic details ready:

• name, address and telephone number of the Children's Centre
• your name/name of practitioner working with the family
• contact person if we need to ring back
• family name of the client family
• postcode where the family is living
• personal details of every adult and child in the household including: dates of birth, ethnicity, gender, details of any illness or disability.
• details of the local authority where the client currently lives, and of any other local authority involved in the case
• details of the family's current situation (including, if they are renting, information about the type of tenancy they have).
• details of the case situation so far
• any previous contact made with Shelter regarding this client's housing situation, including: date of contact, name of Shelter adviser, unique case-reference number provided by Shelter.

What about confidentiality and data protection?

Shelter is an independent organisation. Information you give us is confidential [1] and will not be shared with anyone without the client's full agreement. In line with the Data Protection Act 1998, we keep case details securely on file for six years and the client may request a copy of their records from us at any time. Read more about our privacy policy.

[1] We only refer details in exceptional circumstances, if there's a 'child at risk' or vulnerable person.