Are you involved in private fostering?
Almost everyone has heard of fostering -where people look after youngsters in their own home when they can’t live with their family. Those children are placed there by the council's social services.
But there is another sort of fostering – private fostering. This is where parents make arrangements with someone outside of their family to look after their child for them for 28 days or longer. When this happens, both the parent and the person taking care of the child have a legal duty to tell their local council.
(See below for more details of the definition of private fostering).
Why should this be? Well, the council has a duty to make sure that privately fostered children are being properly looked after while they are away from their family. This means making sure that they have a doctor, attend school, that their living conditions are okay and that they are well cared for in general.
In return, the private foster carer can rely on the social services for advice and help if they need it. The same help is available to the parents of privately fostered children and, of course, to the children themselves.
So, what should you do if you are the parent of a privately fostered child or you care for someone else’s child? The council has produced a leaflet that tells you about private fostering in more detail and explains how to register with the council. Simply phone 01724 296500 and we will take it from there. Or you can call in at your Local Link and ask them to help you contact Children’s Services.
Remember if you don’t report, you’re breaking the law.
Private fostering definition
A privately fostered child is one under 16 (or under 18 if disabled). The child receives care and accommodation continually for 28 days or more by someone who is not a parent, does not have legal parental responsibility and is not a close relative. Close relatives are defined by the Children Act 2004 as parents, step-parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts or uncles.
A weekend back with parents or a short stay with other relatives does not count as a break in this 28 day continuity of care and accommodation.
By law, you must let your local council know about it.It is illegal to be a private foster carer if you don’t let your council know.
Private fostering procedure
North Lincolnshire council has created and consulted on procedures regarding the private fostering. This is to ensure that the welfare of the child is of high priority of the carers and that the placement is suitable for the child or young person.
)
Note: The above document is in Portable Document Format (PDF). You will need a suitable reader to view it. A reader can be downloaded free from the Adobe website (full instructions for downloading the reader are provided on the site).