Looking After Someone Else's Child - 'Private Fostering'
Factsheet for parents about private fostering
Factsheet for private foster carers
"My cousin's son has just moved in with us, and his parents are overseas so he's really missing them. Hopefully he’ll start to feel more at home soon."
Action
If someone has asked you to look after someone else’s child, this means you are a private foster carer. If you think you may be a private foster carer, tell your local authority as soon as possible. If someone in your community is a private foster carer or has asked a private foster carer to look after their child, encourage them to tell their local authority if they haven’t already.
What to say
If you know someone who is a private foster carer or the birth parent of a foster child, make sure they know it’s important to tell their local authority so that the child stays safe and well. That way, they can also get some help and advice.
Warning signs
Some warning signs that a foster child is not being looked after properly: if the child is always hungry or tired, his/her clothes smell and look dirty, he/she is missing school.
Prevention
If you’re thinking about asking someone else to look after your child, be aware of what might happen. You might think you know the private foster carer well, but your local authority has access to police records so may know things about them that you don’t. That’s why it’s important to tell your local authority of your plans so they can protect your child.
The facts
- There are about 20,000 privately fostered young people in Britain
- Private fostering is different from public fostering. Public fostering means that the local authority chooses a foster carer to look after a young person, but private fostering is a private arrangement
- If you don’t tell your local authority that you’re a private foster carer, you can be fined or even go to prison
- Over half of all private foster carers don’t know that they have to tell their local authority that they’re a private foster carer
Sometimes, parents ask another family to look after their children. This is called private fostering.
Parents might want their children to be privately fostered because:
- They work or study long hours.
- They live abroad and want their child to be educated or get medical treatment in Britain.
- They’ve separated or divorced.
Private fostering means that a young person under 16 (or under 18 if they are disabled) is looked after by an adult who isn’t a close relative - for example, someone who is not their parent, aunt, uncle, step-parent, grandparent, brother or sister.
If you're a foster carer
Most private foster carers are excellent, but unfortunately there have been some cases of young people who have been treated badly.
If you’re a private foster carer, you must tell your local authority. They would like to visit to check that the young person living with you is safe and well, and also give you help and advice on how to look after your foster child if you need it.
If you’re going to be a foster carer, try to tell your local authority at least six weeks before your foster child comes to live with you. And if you move home or a child leaves your home to live with someone else, you must also tell them. If you don’t do these things, you might be fined and might even go to prison.
It can be hard for a young person to live apart from their birth parents or family, and so you will need to give them extra support and understanding. It’s also important that you treat your foster child the same as your other children. For example, they should all get the same food and clothes.
What else should you remember?
Before a young person comes to live with you, find out about them from their birth parents - for example, whether they have any medical problems or whether they require a special diet. Remember to register the child with your own doctor when they come to live with you.
Also, keep in contact with your foster child’s birth parents, so you know where they are living, and they know that their child is Okay.
It’s not always easy being a foster carer - even if you’re good friends with the birth parents, things can still go wrong. That’s why you all need to be clear about what you expect from each other.
Contacts
- Children's Assessment Team 023 8083 3336
- Children and Young People's Information Service 0800 169 8833
- British Association for Adoption and Fostering 020 7421 2600 www.baaf.org.uk
