Information for People Working in Schools

Information for people working in schools

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.

Reasons why children become privately fostered

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

8% of privately fostered children said they were never told why they were sent to live with strangers or distant relatives.

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.

Signs to watch out for

● Has someone else started collecting a child from school on a regular basis?

● Has a child mentioned to you that they are staying with someone else or that their parent(s) have gone away for a long time?

● Is there something unusual or unclear in the child's administration file?

Things you can do in your school

● Make sure everyone, especially those involved in the pastoral side, are familiar with and understand the term ‘private fostering’.

● Make sure everyone in your school has seen the Baaf DVD about Private Fostering and put up a copy of the poster in your staff room (download PDF of poster)

●Look at admission files to check on the home situation, and make a note to follow up any circumstances which are not clear.

● Speak to the families of children who might be involved in private fostering and checking 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.

Help us keep children safe and support families

Schools play an essential role in identifying privately fostered children – not just teachers, but administrators, school nurses, dinner ladies and any other member of the schools staff.

How to notify

Contact Children First at Southampton City Council on 023 80833336 or contact the Private Fostering Social Worker Jacqueline Hannah-Holes directly on 023 80833956. Once you have provided the details of 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 will check in at regular intervals to ensure everything is going smoothly.

Further questions

If you have any further queries regarding Private Fostering please follow the following link or contact Jacqueline Hannah-Holes directly on the above number:

Click on the link ‘Looking after Someone Else’s Child – Private Fostering’

1

Angela Seymour, Private Fostering Campaign, 2011-03-07