Private fostering

Private fostering is an arrangement whereby a child under the age of 16 (or 18 if the child has a disability) (S.66 Children Act 1989) is placed for 28 days or more in the care of someone who is not the child’s parent(s) or a ‘connected person’.

A connected person is defined as a ‘relative, friend or other person connected with a child’. The latter is likely to include person(s) who have a pre-existing relationship with the child, for example, a teacher who knows the child in a professional capacity.

Private foster carers can be from the extended family, e.g., a cousin or a great aunt, but cannot be a relative as defined under the Children Act 1989, section 105:

‘A relative under the Children Act 1989 is defined as a ‘grandparent, brother, sister, uncle or aunt (whether full blood or half blood or by marriage or civil partnership) or step-parent’.