Private fostering - information for parents and carers

A private fostering arrangement is one that is made privately (without the involvement of a local authority) for the care of a child under the age of 16 years (under 18, if disabled) with someone other than a parent or close relative, in their own home, with the intention that it should last for 28 days or more. It is not private fostering if the arrangement was made by social services.  Examples of private fostering situations include:

  • children and teenagers living apart from their families for a variety of reasons, for example, if a parent is ill, has had to temporarily move for work or there has been an argument within the family
  • children with parents working or studying elsewhere in the UK
  • children with parents overseas
  • children on holiday exchanges

Local Authority Requirements

Current arrangements for the regulation of private fostering originate from concern following the death of Victoria Climbié in 2000. Victoria was privately fostered by her great aunt. Arrangements were codified in the Children Act 2004. Following this, the Children (Private Arrangement for Fostering) Regulations 2005 set out the duties of local authorities in their arrangements for private fostering, and national minimum standards for local authorities were published in 2005.

Given concerns about the level of ‘hidden’ private fostering arrangements, local authorities are required to concentrate on ‘awareness-raising’ among professionals and the general public. From 2005 the Commission for Social Care Inspection was given the duty of inspecting LA arrangements with the intention of facilitating improvement.

Local authorities are required to complete an annual review of their private fostering arrangements and to submit this to the local safeguarding children board (LSCB). Data on private fostering are gathered annually by each authority and published nationally by the Department for Education.

Private Fostering Panel

The Tri Borough private Fostering panel is a multi-disciplinary panel chaired by the Mash Head of service. The purpose of the panel is to:

  • establish a multi-disciplinary approach to good quality and robust assessment of privately fostered children
  • ensure compliance with statutory guidance on privately fostered children
  • ensure that every privately fostered child has a Child In Need Plan which is reviewed quarterly and meets the individual needs of that child
  • provide good quality oversight to ensure cases are stepped up to statutory social work should the Private Fostering placement no longer be viable or breaks down
  • ensure all young people over the age of 16 receive relevant support and intervention from services from agencies ensuring good outcomes beyond the Privately Fostered arrangement
  • ensure children and young people are visited according to the statutory requirement

Download information leaflets

Private fostering leaflet - Hammersmith and Fulham [PDF] (file size 199.93 KB)
Private fostering leaflet - Westminster [PDF] (file size 244.73 KB)

Find out more

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