Child Maintenance Options
Child Maintenance Options is an impartial information and support service. The Commission offers this service to help parents gain a clear understanding of the options available for arranging child maintenance. The aim is that parents feel informed enough make a decision about child maintenance and act on it.
The service, developed with input from stakeholders, is also available to guardians, relatives, friends and child support professionals, and can be used anonymously in England, Wales and Scotland.
Child Maintenance Options provides impartial information through a national telephone helpline, a website and a face-to-face service for those in most need of more personalised help and support.
Child Maintenance Options also provides information and support on other issues parents might face in making maintenance arrangements, such as housing, legal and money concerns. The service can signpost people to organisations that provide specialist help and advice.
The Commission has been working closely with a number of organisations in developing the Child Maintenance Options service. These include Centre for Separated Families, One Parent Families/Gingerbread and Families Need Fathers. Customers with queries outside of child maintenance may be referred to organisations such as Relate, Citizens Advice, Community Legal Action and Refuge.