Private Fostering
- Haringey Private Fostering Team
- Are you a private foster carer?
- Benefits of Council Involvement
- Professionals & Private Fostering
- Downloads
A child is privately fostered if they are under 16 (18 if disabled) and looked after by someone who is not a close relative for 28 days or more. Whenever private arrangements like this are made for children, it is the duty of both the parent and the carer to notify the local authority where the child is living. Most private fostering arrangements continue to go un-notified.
For more information see: Somebody Else's Child website (external link)
The person looking after the child is called a private foster carer.
A child looked after by the local authority is not a privately fostered child.
Haringey's Private Fostering Team
If you have any questions about private fostering, don't hesitate to contact the private fostering team.
Freepost RLZX –TLCE – RZZA
HARINGEY COUNCIL
Private Fostering Team
4th Floor
40 Cumberland Road
LONDON
N22 7SG
Tel: 0800 634 0480
Email: privatefostering@haringey.gov.uk
Private Fostering Regulations
The government re-introduced private fostering regulations in July 2005, making it a legal duty for private foster carers and parents to notify the council if:
- They intend to privately foster
- They already privately foster
The council is the one in which the private foster carers live.
The regulations are intended to make sure that all children who do not live at home are safely cared for and their carers are supported.
If you are a professional and you are aware of a private fostering arrangement you have special duties in relation to the private fostering arrangements. To find out more about your tasks, please refer to Private Fostering Information for Professionals (PDF, 392Kb).
Are you a Private Foster Carer?
- Have you been looking after a child who is not your own, for a total of 28 days or more?
- Are you about to look after a child who is not your own for a total of 28 days or more?
- Does someone else look after your child in this way or are they intending to do so?
- Is this child under 16 years old or is the child disabled and under 18 years?
- Is the person who looks after your child a friend, cousin, great aunt/uncle, neighbour, a parent of a child’s friend, a distant relative or someone else who is not related to the child?
If you answer yes to any of the questions above, you have a duty to notify the Council in which you live. Please read the Parents and Carers Private Fostering Booklet (PDF, 566Kb) leaflet.
Benefits of Letting Council Know
Private foster carers will receive support and advice and will have access to information which will help them understand their rights and tasks as private foster carers.
Children and young people will have access to support and information which will help them to understand what the private fostering arrangement means.
Parents will receive valuable advice and information about setting up and maintaining the private fostering arrangement.
Professionals & Private Fostering
Teachers, health and other staff working with children should make a referral to LA children’s social care and the police if:
- They become aware of a private fostering arrangement which is not likely to be notified to the local authority
- They have doubts about whether a child’s carers are actually their parents, and there is any evidence to support these doubts
It is likely that LA children’s social care will not have been notified of most private fostering arrangements.
When LA children’s social care become aware of a privately fostered child, they must assess the suitability of the arrangement. They must make regular visits to the child and the private foster carer.
LA children’s social care should visit and see the child alone unless this is inappropriate; they must visit the parent of the child when reasonably requested to do so. The child should be given contact details of the social worker who will be visiting him/her while s/he is being privately fostered.
Downloads
- Private Fostering Information Leaflet (PDF, 66Kb)
- Parents and Carers Private Fostering Booklet (PDF, 566Kb)
- Private Fostering Information for Professionals (PDF, 392Kb)