Press releases

Latest figures on ‘invisible children’ seen as ‘progress’ but ‘not enough’

Issued: 14 July 2008

The latest Government figures on private fostering released today (31st July) are being described as ‘progress’ by a leading adoption and fostering charity. However they also say much more needs to be done.

Private fostering describes an arrangement when someone, who is not a close relative1, cares for another person’s child for an extended period of time2. Although this is done by private arrangement, legally the parent and the carer must notify the local authority where the child is going to live so that the local authority can ensure that the child is being properly looked after. Nobody knows exactly how many children are privately fostered, but in 2001 the Department of Health estimated that there could be as many as 10,000 in England and Wales. It is feared that some of these ‘invisible’ children could be at risk of abuse, or victims of trafficking.

The British Association for Adoption & Fostering (BAAF) says the 14% increase over the last year in the numbers of notifications of private fostering arrangements is a positive sign but the numbers of notifications are still much too low given the estimated numbers of children who are privately fostered.

David Holmes, Chief Executive of BAAF says: “We recently did a survey2 which revealed that awareness of private fostering was very low. When asked only 18% of the general public could pick out the correct definition of private fostering and only 16% knew that when making a private fostering arrangement they had to notify the local authority. More worryingly, only 18% of people working directly with children could pick out the correct definition of private fostering. However, the rise in notifications is a sign that awareness may be growing, which is encouraging but still not enough. While some local authorities and their partner agencies have been making strong progress, others need to raise their game in this area.”

The charity claims that there is still more to be done. They will be running the first ever nationwide campaign to help raise awareness of private fostering from 19th to 25th January 2009.

Notes to editors:

• Close relative is defined as step-parent, grandparent, brother, sister, uncle or aunt (whether full blood, half blood or by marriage)
• Extended period is defined as 28 days or more
• YouGov interviewed 1,282 GB adults (18+) in London between 21st December 2007 and 2nd January 2008, of whom 223 were professionals who come into regular contact with children
• Full report on Private Fostering Arrangements in England, year ending 31 March 2008 available at http://www.dcsf.gov.uk
• For more information please call BAAF press office on 020 7421 2632/3 or email esther.freeman@baaf.org.uk. For out of hours enquiries, call the press office mobile on 07767 444 589.