Why are some children privately fostered?

There are many reasons why a child may be living with a private foster carer, for example:

• the child's parents may be working or studying abroad
• the relationship between the child and their parent has broken down and the child is living with a friend's family
• a child is sent to the UK to study and is living with a host family

Private fostering is very different from a child being cared for by a council foster carer. It is an agreement between the child's parents and a private foster carer to look after their child for 28 days (four weeks) or more.

This page was last updated on 17 December 2010