Are you caring for the child of a friend, neighbour or someone in your extended family? If the answer is yes, you could be in a private fostering arrangement.

Ahead of Private Fostering Awareness Day on Wednesday, 5 November, Hampshire County Council is raising awareness of private fostering arrangements and why it needs to know about them.

Private fostering is when a child under 16 (or under 18 if they are disabled) lives with an adult who is not a close family member for 28 days or more. This could be an extended family member like a cousin or great aunt, a family friend or even a neighbour.

It is a legal requirement for the County Council to be notified of a private fostering arrangement by the parent or carer of the child involved. This can be done by phoning the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub on 0300 555 1384.

Councillor Roz Chadd, Cabinet Lead Member for Children’s Services, said: “We have a duty to ensure the welfare of any child in a private fostering arrangement, and that their carers have all the support they feel they need. That’s why it’s really important to tell us if you’re in a private fostering arrangement or if you know someone who is. We will then be able to offer a range of support including advice on possible benefits, parenting advice and training opportunities, as well as working with families facing crisis to help bring them back together.”

There can be many reasons why a child isn’t living at home and someone else is required to care for them. These could include family relationship breakdown or divorce, parental illness, or parental homelessness. Other examples include children attending language schools or football academies, where they may be living away from parents for periods of time. Although they are living apart, parents of privately fostered children maintain their parental and financial responsibilities and continue to be involved in all decisions about their child’s life throughout the arrangement.

Private fostering is different from fostering arrangements involving close relatives such as aunts, uncles, step-parents (by marriage), grandparents or siblings. This is known as kinship care and is also closely supported by the local authority.

Private Fostering Awareness Day is run annually on the first Wednesday in November by CoramBAAF, the UK’s leading membership organisation for professionals working across fostering, adoption and kinship care.

Visit the County Council’s website to find out more about private fostering.