Children's services information and support.
Browse our list of legal information for children's services, or contact the team below and speak to them direct.
Information and support for children's service providers.
Working in children’s services is both rewarding and highly demanding — it involves not only safeguarding and supporting some of the most vulnerable members of society, but also operating in a sector governed by intense scrutiny, complex regulation, and ever-evolving legal standards. Whether you’re running residential children’s homes, supported accommodation, or education-based care settings, you need legal support that understands the unique responsibilities and risks you face.
We provide specialist legal advice to children’s services providers across the full spectrum of care and support. Our team combines deep sector knowledge with a practical, responsive approach to help you manage risk, maintain compliance, and deliver high-quality care with confidence.
From the outset, we take the time to understand your organisation — its ethos, its structure, and the challenges it faces. Whether you’re setting up a new service, expanding provision, or responding to concerns raised by Ofsted or local authorities, we offer clear, commercially aware advice tailored to the children’s care environment.
We regularly assist clients with issues around registration and compliance, safeguarding concerns, workforce challenges, and policy development. Our team is also highly experienced in handling urgent and sensitive matters, including serious incident investigations, employment disputes, and contractual issues with commissioning bodies.
In an increasingly regulated sector, we also support you through inspections, enforcement actions, and appeals — ensuring your rights are protected and your service users are prioritised throughout. We liaise with regulators, local authorities, and legal representatives to resolve issues constructively and with minimal disruption to the children and young people in your care.
Whether you’re delivering residential care, specialist education, or supported living services for young people transitioning to independence, our legal support helps you operate safely, sustainably, and with integrity.
At the heart of everything we do is a recognition of your role: not just as a provider, but as a protector and advocate for children. We’re here to stand with you — as legal advisors, strategic partners, and champions of the vital work you do.
The Health & Social Care team at RWK Goodman is a recognised market leader, with in-depth knowledge and experience in advising the owners and operators of special schools.
Manage your workforce in a fair, consistent and proactive way with HELP from the RWK Goodman Health & Social Care team.
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"The lawyers are extremely responsive, their advice comprehensive and solution focused, bringing peace of mind in often challenging circumstances."
“RWK Goodman have provided us with an excellent service. They have worked with us on the major strategic issues as well as on individual service user or employment cases ... in all this we have found the team to be responsive, friendly and effective, with the amount of support tailored exactly according to what the client needs and prefers.”
"We have been particularly impressed with their experts’ in depth knowledge that is specific not only to the health and social care sector, but to care providers in particular. The advice has been tailored to our needs, our goals, and the challenges we face. ”
Have a question about our Health Check service?
We offer all providers a free health check of their employment contracts and service user contracts.
As a care provider it is crucial that you have the correct contractual agreements in place. Failure to do so can have financial and legal consequences but also cause reputation damage. Our Health check service is designed to protect you whilst also giving you the most pragmatic and commercial options. Speak to the team today.