Councils should look to trusted family members of children in care to take up the role of closed contact centres in order to keep child contact arrangements alive, updated guidance by the government has confirmed.

The “Coronavirus: Separated Families and Contact with Children in Care FAQs (UK)“, which was updated last night, re-iterates that the spirit of child contact orders for both private and public family law cases must be upheld.

The guidance says, “Centres are working creatively with families to see if there are other people that might be able to take up the role of the contact centre. This works well where there are family members or other trusted people that can step in, to support.”

Centres which are only partially closed can continue to arrange handovers for parents who need the support of a contact centre.

The revised document also provides a link to another briefing paper which offers advice on how to get help with varying a court order during the Coronavirus outbreak.