News

By Terry Philpot.
British Agencies for Adoption & Fostering
£9.95
ISBN 1 903699 05 3

This timely investigative report provides a strident, well-informed and comprehensive account of the history and current state of private fostering. It includes discussion of the legal position, the research base, the risks posed to children, and the current state of knowledge and local authority practice. It points to warnings going back 25 years about private fostering being a tragedy waiting to happen.

It describes how the largest group of known privately fostered children are West Africans raised by white families. The isolation faced by many of these children, says Philpot, combined with carers' low expectations and racist behaviour produces cultural dislocation and reinforces vulnerability to abuse.

This report ends with 22 key recommendations to central and local government. These are based on the premise that private foster arrangements should not remain virtually unregulated, but instead be subject to approval and registration. Those who fail to comply should be prosecuted, Philpot advises.

This accessible report makes a major contribution to understanding the policy and legal context surrounding the death of Victoria Climbie, and it deserves to be read and its recommendations acted on.

Bob Broad is professor of children and families research, De Montfort University, and editor of Kinship Care.