Living with Another Family

Private Fostering

Are you staying with a friend or a different family? Is somebody else looking after you?

If you are aged up to 16 (up to 18 if you have a disability) and you are staying with someone other than your parents, such as grandparents, aunts/uncles, or brothers/sisters for more than 4 weeks then we call this "private fostering".

This type of arrangement is completely different to fostering arrangements where children and young people are placed with local authority approved foster carers, or via friends and family (kinship care) foster carers.

 Some examples of private fostering:

• When a child or young person has had an argument with their parents and decided to stay at a friend's.
• When a child or young person is staying with friends of their family.
• When a child or young person’s parents have separated and they are living outside the family.
• When child or young person is staying with friends of their family.
• If a child or young person is staying with wider members of the family
• If a child or young person has come over to study in England

If you are in this situation or know someone who is, it is important that we know about your situation. You can do this by contacting us on 0161 342 4102.  

What happens next?

We are here to help, so a professional will contact you, explain what this all means and make sure that you are ok.

We want to make sure that you are safe so may ask you:

• How you are feeling and doing.
• Your relationship with your carers and parents.
• That all is in place for you to feel comfortable and protected.
• Whether you would like any advice or a listening ear.

For most children and young people, 'private fostering' works well but we need to make sure we know who is being ‘privately fostered’ and whether we can provide help.

We just need to make sure you are well and listen to you so please let us know.

This link will give you a lot more information about how we can help you

Private Fostering Guide for Children Leaflet

What does it mean for you, if you are privately fostered?

Children or young people who are privately fostered have the same rights to protection and access to services as children living at home with their family. Notifying the local authority of a private fostering arrangement ensures that:

• An assessment and safeguarding checks can be made to ensure that the private foster carer is a suitably safe adult carer for the privately fostered child or young person.
• The private fostering arrangement is monitored to ensure that the privately fostered child or young person’s well-being and individual needs are appropriately met.
• Privately fostered children and young people’s wishes and feelings are listened to and promoted by the local authority.
• Regular support visits to the privately fostered child or young person take place to monitor and promote the progress of the private fostering arrangement and provide support services where appropriate.