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British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering has called for urgent government action to protect the thousands of privately fostered children, many of whom are West African, at risk of physical, social or sexual abuse, writes Jonathan Pearce.

BAAF has called for the Adoption and Children Bill currently before parliament to be amended in the light of its new report into private fostering, which reveals there are between 8,000 and 10,000 children currently in private foster care in the UK.

A significant majority are black children of West African origin, says the report, and many end up privately fostered by white families, often in rural communities where the child will experience separation from their culture.

"We do not think it is any longer tolerable that there is a large group of children who are not given the protection of children living away from home," said BAAF chief executive Felicity Collier. "This is simply not good enough."

"Private fostering" applies to children up to 16 years of age (18 if disabled) who are in the care of someone who is not their parent or relative for 28 days or more.

The predominance of West African children in private fostering dates back to the 1950s, when hard-up immigrants found private foster care their only child care option, says the report. It adds there is a common perception among West African parents that placing their children with white families will lead to a good upbringing and better education.

Others affected by private fostering include children attending language schools, boarding school pupils who live away from parents during the holidays, and "backdoor, pre-adoption" arrangements.

Using the current Climbie inquiry to highlight the tragic consequences of unregistered private fostering, the report calls for urgent central and local government action.

Under the report’s recommendations, legislation should be introduced to require local authorities to maintain a register of "approved" private foster carers in their area; and to make it an offence to use an unregistered carer.

The report also calls for department of health standards and for the National Care Standards Commission to follow Scotland’s lead by inspecting councils’ private fostering services in England and Wales, while each council should address private fostering in children’s services plans and incorporate the Children Act principles of considering a child’s religion, race, culture and language, in all its guidelines and policies on private fostering.

Association of Directors of Social Services children and families committee chair Rob Hutchinson said the report’s recommendations were "pragmatic, implementable and welcome", adding: "We need more than resources on this. It requires accepting a different level of priority for this group."

* Terry Philpot, A Very Private Practice (BAAF) available from 020 7593 2072.