Examples of private fostering

Hakeem's Story

Hakeem is six. He was born in Nigeria but his mother is very ill and his father has to work very long hours so they thought it best that he came to England to live with his ‘Auntie Adeleke’ (his mothers cousin).

Hakeem hadn’t met his Auntie Adeleke before, but his father flew over with him on the plane and stayed for a week until he felt he had settled in.

Hakeem misses his parents, but he phones them every week and he writes letters to them and is very happy at his new school in England.

Auntie Adeleke is Hakeem’s private foster carer and every six weeks Sharon, who is Hakeem’s social worker comes to make sure everything is ok.

Hakeem likes it when Sharon visits because Auntie Adeleke gets the chocolate biscuits out.

Hakeem enjoys chatting with Sharon because he gets to talk about all his worries and show Sharon what he has been doing at school. Sharon helped Hakeem to think of the right words to tell Auntie Adeleke that he doesn’t like it when the neighbours’ big dog Rover comes to play.
 

Gemma’s Story

Gemma’s Mum died when she was only five she now lives with her dad. He works on an ocean liner, which means that sometimes he has to be away for three or four months at a time.

Gemma is now 13 and loves living with her dad and around the corner from her friends, so when her dad goes to work on the oil rig, she stays with her ‘Auntie Winnie’. Gemma isn’t related to ‘Auntie Winnie’, but she was her mum’s best friend and Gemma has known her for as long as she can remember. Staying with her means she can still go to her school and meet up with friends and also go round to her own house every day to feed her cat, Tiddles.

While her dad is away on the ocean liner, ‘Auntie Winnie’ is Gemma’s private foster carer and Suki, who is Gemma’s social worker, visits to make sure she is happy and everything is going well.
 

Paul’s Story

Paul’s dad left the family when Paul was three and hasn’t contacted him or his mum since. Paul was very close to his mum, but last year his mum got a new boyfriend, Tim.

Paul didn’t get on with Tim and they argued constantly, he found he was spending more time at his girlfriend Lauren's house than at home. Paul gets on very well with Lauren’s parents and they said he could stay whenever he wanted. After a big fall out with Tim, Paul said he wanted to go and stay with Lauren’s family. Paul’s mum and Tim thought this was a good idea because the arguments were very upsetting and starting to have an effect on Tim’s children who are a lot younger than Paul. Paul’s mum told the local council that he would be staying with Lisa’s parents for a while and visit regularly to help them all to get on and to give everyone a break.

Because Lisa’s parents are now Paul’s private foster carers Paul has a social worker, Winston, who visits to check that he is being well looked after and that he is still doing well in school. Winston also helps Paul to think of why he argues with Tim and how he can visit his mum without fighting with Tim and upsetting the other children in the house.