The local authority has a legal duty to support children who are being “privately fostered” and to ensure both the child and their private foster parent receive the support and guidance they need.

A child or young person under the age of 16 (or under 18 if they have a disability) is considered privately fostered if they are being cared for by someone who is not their parent, guardian, close relative (i.e grandparent, brother, sister) or someone with parental responsibility, for more than 28 days, without the local authority’s involvement.

This does not include arrangements made with social care or where the foster parent is approved.

By law, the local authority must be notified of a private fostering arrangement at least six weeks before it begins, or immediately if the arrangement is already in place. This allows the local authority to ensure that the child is safe, is supported educationally, and that the private foster parent is supported in their role.

Councillor Jacqui Coogan, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education, said: “Children can be privately fostered for many reasons – perhaps their parents are overseas, going through a difficult time, or there’s been a family dispute and the child is staying with a friend temporarily.

“Private foster parents carry out a really important role and we can offer them support and guidance to be able to do this, but we can only do this if we know about it. Many private fostering arrangements remain hidden, potentially leaving children vulnerable to abuse and neglect.

“We continue to share information about private fostering to develop knowledge in communities and with professionals of these arrangements.

“I'd therefore urge anyone who is either looking after someone else's child or knows someone who is, to contact us as soon as possible to ensure we can make sure the child and their private foster parents are supported."

An arrangement is likely to be private fostering if a child is living with a cousin, great aunt, great uncle, great grandparent, friend, neighbour, divorced step-parent, a host family (such as during an exchange programme), or at an independent boarding school for more than two weeks during the holidays.

Anyone who knows of a child who is in a private fostering arrangement is asked to please call the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) on 01902 555392.

For more details about private fostering, please visit www.fosteringforwolverhampton.com/private-fostering or call 01902 551133.