Use NACCC centres to help you see your children!
There are over 240 accredited centres with NACCC (National Association of Child Contact Centres),there to provide safe, meaningful, and quality contact for the children and families.
We’ve caught up with Philip Coleman, a manager at NACCC, to learn more about what the organisation does, why not every child contact centre is accredited, and why they should be.
What do NACCC do?
The NACCC (National Association of Child Contact Centres) is a national charity that produces policies, standards, training and accreditation. The NACCC accreditation supports child contact centres to ensure their services are safe and effective, and meet the needs of the children that are using them.
Separation can be a really difficult time for young people to navigate; if they don’t want to discuss it with someone else or ask questions they fear may upset a parent, it’s really important that they can get information on their own terms. The NACCC website has plenty of resources and information, not just for contact centres, but also for parents and children. Children can access information either with the support of parents or carers, or independently when they need to.
Why is it important to choose a NACCC accredited contact centre for you and your children?
It’s important for you as a parent to know that your children are in a safe, secure environment when using contact centres, and by using accredited centres you have the reassurance of knowing that the centre has these robust procedures in place.
NACCC listens to children about what works for them and then they plan services around what the children say, so they have a delivery approach that’s genuinely meaningful to families and it feels safe and reassuring for them.
“Being accredited means that there's a good management structure, any families currently there have a good level of service, the staff have been trained and supervised - it's quality assured.” - Philip Coleman, NACCC manager
In order to keep children safe and protected, being accredited includes:
· All staff are qualified
· All staff receive a fully enhanced DBS check
· All staff are safeguarding trained
· Staff have the benefit of a rolling training program that covers a variety of topics, helping them to understand the needs of the families they support.
· All areas within the centre are COVID risk assessed and safe
· All adults attending the centre will be made subject to written “Rules of the Centre” contracts
· All policies are available on request
Accredited centres are constantly aiming to improve their child contact services and keep up the standard with NACCC’s policies to deliver the best possible care to families; it says a lot about the attitude of the contact centres when they keep up to date with the latest measures to deliver this care.
What the law says
Whilst it would seem that child contact centres have to be accredited by law, this isn't the case.
There's no legal requirement for contact centres to be accredited. Anybody can set up and run a contact centre; they don't have to register with NACCC, or the government.
Unfortunately, this is where people may not practice the routine of high standards that accredited services do, and they will have nowhere to go for guidance and information on the best practices to improve their centre.
Understanding why family law professionals suggest accredited services for parents.
If parents are involved with CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service), or the family courts, they will have to use an accredited contact centre as there’s protocols in place with the court and CAFCASS that mandate this accreditation.
If they want to rely on a contact centre, whether that be now, or in five years' time, they can only use the contact centre notes as evidence in court if the centre is a NACCC accredited service.
You can check if the contact centre that’s been recommended to you is accredited by the NACCC here.
How many accredited services are there?
“We’re seeing more centres closing, and higher demand from families using the remaining centres. It’s more important than ever that the NACCC is providing support for contact centres seeing more and more families that need their help.” - Philip Coleman, NACCC manager
There were 241 accredited centres as of 1 April 2023 providing direct contact services, however this will be updated again on 1 April 2025, which you can check for the updated number then here.
Since the Covid 19 pandemic, the number of accredited centres has dropped, as in 2020 there were 320 accredited services and now there’s 471. This is a clear problem as referrals for child contact are significantly increasing whilst the number of accredited centres are now decreasing.
What does NACCC think of The Starting Point?
“We see the Starting Point team regularly at coffee shops at training sessions and other opportunities that occur. What that says to us at NACCC is that they’re passionate about what they're doing, and they have a genuine interest, as they’re entirely optional and the fact that they do shows that they're investing in the quality of their service that families receive when they come to the centre” - Philip Coleman, NACCC manager
The NACCC cares about members that go above and beyond for the children and families that use the centre. People who choose to be members of NACCC have made a choice, there’s nothing in place that mandates them to do that - they do it as an example of the good quality service they're offering.
