National campaign to identify privately fostered children
Telford & Wrekin Council is aiming to use a national campaign week to identify privately fostered children across the borough.
National Private Fostering Awareness Week runs from July 6-10 and the council is looking to remind professionals to check that they know who children live with.
Privately fostered children are defined as a child under 16 living with a person who is not a close relative or legal guardian for more than 28 days.
The council’s social services have a legal requirement to ensure these children are safeguarded and to check on the suitability of the adults looking after them.
The law says that social services must be informed of these arrangements so individuals are not breaching confidentiality by notifying them.
Councillor Paul Watling, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for Children, Young People and Families, said: "Privately fostered children are one of the largest groups of vulnerable children in the UK.
"National Private Fostering Awareness Week is a way of raising awareness of their existence and encouraging people to think about the children they know and whether any of them might be privately fostered."
People should contact Family Connect on 01952 385385 if they think they know of a child who may be privately fostered.
More information is available at www.telford.gov.uk/privatefostering including what "not being a close relative" means.
