The following categories of cases are in scope for legal aid:

• Local authority support for children and families (including families with children with no recourse to public funds)

• Local authority reports on children in need and accommodation of children

• Local authority and NHS services due to illness, disability or mental capacity (including Court of Protection)

You will need to qualify financially for legal aid. If you have a partner you live with, their finances will also be assessed as part of yours.

• Community Care Law for Children & Young People network
  This is a network for access to justice for children and young people’s community care needs. They have a list of recommended solicitors in community care under the tab for “find legal support”

• Gov.UK legal aid lawyers search engine
  This is a directory of all solicitors with a legal aid contract around the country – enter the town or postcode and tick “community care

• AdviceLocal search engine
  AdviceLocal have developed a map of advice services across the country assisting in social welfare law: welfare benefits, debt, housing, employment, community care, asylum & immigration. (It does not include the main national organisations, advice services that are open for only a small number of hours a week and law clinics that don't provide a service in social welfare law). The services are mostly law centres, university law clinics, housing advice services and also legal aid solicitors who do social welfare law. Legal aid solicitors and some law centres will take on cases.

If you do not qualify financially for legal aid, you can still contact a specialist community care solicitor using the above links and ask about paying privately.

• LawWorks – national umbrella for pro bono services
  On the LawWorks website you can search for pro bono legal advice clinics around the country on different areas of law. Search “legal advice for individuals”, then “free advice clinics” – scroll down to the search function where you can enter the area of law and distance from home address.