You don’t personally have to be accredited but the centre or organisation where you volunteer/work may wish to become accredited. NACCC’s accreditation for supported child contact centres and enhanced accreditation for supervised child contact centres is considered as a good practice quality mark for child contact centres in the UK.

There is currently not a legal requirement for contact centres to be accredited but Cafcass will only make referrals to centres that have achieved NACCC accreditation. The Courts also recognise the value of NACCC Accreditation and will usually seek to ensure this is in place prior to working with a contact centre.

NACCC is responsible for the accreditation of child contact centres in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands. For information on child contact centres in Scotland please contact Relationships Scotland.

For further information on joining NACCC and achieving accreditation status click here.

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Once your centre is accredited and up and running you can promote your service in the following ways:

  1. Contact local referring agencies (Cafcass, family law solicitors, mediation services, court) explaining how they can make a referral.
  2. Contact local agencies and voluntary groups working with separated parents (health centres/doctors surgeries, children’s centres, schools) explaining how their service users can make a self-referral and how to support them in doing this.
  3. As it is likely that family members will be referring to you direct via self-referral you will need to advertise in places where members of the public go regularly (for example, doctors’ surgeries, supermarkets, libraries, community centres). NACCC has awareness posters which can be ordered on request.
  4. Don’t forget your online presence – make sure you have a social media account for your organisation and a website with photographs explaining what you do.
  5. If you are a not-for-profit organisation, you can run a fundraising drive to help promote what you are doing and raise money for your service at the same time.
  6. Make contact with your local constituency MP to let them know about your service. See if your details can be added to their regular email newsletter.

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Accreditation must be achieved within a six-month period. On becoming a candidate member of NACCC you are allocated an assessor who checks and signs off your portfolio. They will also complete a site visit before signing off your accreditation.

By joining NACCC you can access various membership benefits including the provision of national standards and accreditation support – practical support and advice helping your centre achieve and maintain accreditation.

Organisations or individuals that are seeking membership of NACCC are normally in one of two positions. They are either established services or they are looking into setting up and running a service. We have therefore created two different routes that individuals or organisations need to follow to secure their accreditation by and membership of NACCC:

1. Are you looking to set up and run a new service? Click here to learn about the action points you need to have taken before joining as a Candidate.

2. Are you an established, existing centre? Click here to learn how to join us as a candidate.

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Setting up, managing and running a child contact service is something that needs to be carefully planned. Your overall objective needs to be the creation of an environment where families and children will feel both comfortable and safe.

You need to begin by acting on the following points. Once you have completed these actions you can become a candidate member and become accredited.

The need for a service in your area

  • Have you spoken to Cafcass, local solicitors, local courts and other child contact services operating in your area at present?
  • If you are planning to open a supervised child contact centre, have you spoken to local authorities in your area to see whether they would use your service to facilitate contact for looked-after children?

Premises

  • Have you identified anywhere?
  • Where is it?
  • When is it available?
  • What facilities does it have?

Staffing

  • Will you be using volunteers, paid staff or a combination of the two to run your service?
  • How many volunteers/staff will you need to run your service?
  • How will you be recruiting?

Funding

  • How much is it going to cost to set up and then run your service for a year?
  • Where is this money going to come from?

By joining NACCC you can access various membership benefits including the provision of national standards and accreditation support – practical support and advice helping your centre achieve and maintain accreditation.

Accreditation must be achieved within a six-month period. On becoming a candidate member of NACCC you are allocated an assessor who checks your portfolio (containing all your policies and procedures). They will also complete a site visit before signing off your accreditation.

Find out how to join as a candidate.

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Any organisation can open a child contact centre providing the national standards for either supported or supervised contact are met. There are standards regarding management, staffing, training, new workers, trustees, policies, operating procedures and systems in place to safeguard children.  Find out more.

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