Information for health professionals
There are an estimated 10,000 privately fostered children living in England and Wales. By law parents and carers must notify the local council. Sadly most don’t.
Private fostering is not the same as fostering
Privately fostered children are not the same as fostered children. They are not in the care of the state. So if their carers don’t tell the local council they will be without support. Although most privately foster carers do an excellent job, often stepping in when a family is in crisis, many privately fostered children experience feelings commonly associated with being separated from their birth families – loneliness, confusion and anxiety.
Reasons why children become privately fostered
- Their parent(s) have gone overseas to visit extended family
- Their parent(s) have gone away for work
- They’ve had a row with their mum and/or dad and are staying with friends
- Their parent(s) are in prison
- Their parent(s) have a long term illness or mental health problems
- They’ve been sent to the UK from overseas to stay with extended family, maybe for their education
Signs to watch out for
- Has the child turned up with a new carer?
- Has the child mentioned that they are not staying at their usual home or their parents being away for a long time?
- Does the carer seem vague about the child’s routines (bedtimes etc.), their health history, development checks and immunization record?
Things you can do in your workplace
- Make sure everyone is familiar with and understands the term private fostering and understands their responsibilities regarding safeguarding
- Show our special film about private fostering as part of your child protection training and put up our poster in your patient waiting areas (download PDF poster here )
- When a child is being registered at a practice ask them what their relationship is with the carer. Remember ‘aunty’ can be used as a colloquial term and may not mean a blood relative.
- If you think you have identified a private fostering arrangement speak to the families of children who might be involved. Check that they are aware of their duty to notify. If they feel this is not appropriate then pass on the details to the private fostering officer at your Local Authority and they will follow it up for you.
How to notify
Visit our notifications page to find details of your local private fostering team. All calls will be dealt with in confidence. Once you have provided the details the private fostering arrangement, the social worker will do the follow up work.
Once the private fostering social worker has established contact with the family they will run some checks on the carer. They will also talk to the young person to make sure they are happy in the arrangement, and they will check that the accommodation is safe and suitable. Providing everything is okay the family will continue the arrangement. The social worker checking in at regular intervals to ensure everything is going smoothly.
Further questions
You may have questions to ask about private fostering. Please see our FAQs.
Private fostering for health professionals
- Length: 4:40 minutes (4.28 MB)
- Format: Stereo 44kHz 128Kbps (CBR)
Beverley Clarke OBE, is a specialist health worker and she explains the key signs to look out for in private fostering arrangements.
David Holmes, Chief Executive of BAAF defines private fostering and explains the research of 1000 children aged between 9-16 who were surveyed about their understanding of private fostering.
8% of privately fostered children said they were never told why they were sent to live with strangers or distant relatives.
Help us keep children safe and support families
Health professionals play an essential role in identifying privately fostered children – this may include GPs’ surgeries, health visitors, A&E, community midwives, speech and language therapists and child psychologists.
