Books, booklets & multimedia

A Very Private Practice, A report into private fostering

	Price: £5.00 54 pages A4	BAAF, 2001 ISBN 1 978-1-903699-05-8

Law and practice continue to fail privately fostered children. Successive governments have refused to strengthen the law to protect the highly vulnerable group of children, largely of west african origin, who are privately fostered and local authorities tend to be lax when it comes to discharging the responsibilities that they do have.

Terry Philpot shows why so little is known about the children, their parents and the private foster carers, exposing the weaknesses of the present system and how easy it is for these children to remain hidden from public scrutiny.

Illustrated with moving stories of children who, in the most extreme cases , have been exposed to neglect, danger or abuse, this campaigning report shows how good practice can make a difference to better protecting children in private foster care and puts forward a comprehensive programme for reform.