Private fostering is when a child or young person under 16 years old (or 18 if they have a disability) is looked after for a period of 28 days or more by someone who is not a close relative, legal guardian or person with parental responsibility. Close relatives include parents, step-parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Other people, such as neighbours, friends or more distant relatives need to have an assessment. Following a successful assessment, the child must be visited by the local authority at least every 90 days to ensure they are and remain safe.
By law, the local authority where the private foster carer lives must be told about all private fostering situations. The child’s parents, private foster carer and anyone else involved in the arrangement are legally required to inform the local authority. Schools should be clear who has parental responsibility for children on their roll, and where they identify a private fostering arrangement they must report this to the local authority.
You can use this postcode checker to find out who the relevant local authority would be.
