Private Fostering Awareness Day takes place on Wednesday 8 November, and we are asking you to let us know if you are aware of any children or young people living in these arrangements.

Private Fostering is not fostering with a private agency or an approved foster carer, it’s when someone other than a parent or a close relative cares for a child under the age of 16 (or 18 if they are disabled) for over 28 days.

A close relative is an aunt, uncle, step-parent, grandparent or sibling, but not a cousin, great aunt or uncle, or a family friend.

Some examples of what private fostering is:

• Leaving a country where there is conflict.
• Your child’s friend lives with your family as they have issues with their own parents
• The teenage boyfriend or girlfriend of your child is living in your home

It is a legal requirement that the council is notified about any private fostering arrangement. This is so we can safeguard the children and support the carers.

Many privately fostered children remain ‘invisible’, and their needs go unmet.

We need your help to increase notification levels and ensure that the welfare of children is always put first here in Barnsley.

If you wish to make a referral or clarify whether an arrangement meets the criteria for private fostering, please call (01226) 775876.

For more information visit barnsley.gov.uk/services/children-families-and-education/fostering/private-fostering/