PEOPLE in Dorset are being asked to think if they are in a private fostering arrangement.

Private fostering is when a family arranges for a child or young person under 16 (or under 18 if disabled) to live with someone who is not a close relative for 28 days or more.

This might be a friend, a great aunt, a cousin or someone else known to the child or young person.

Dorset Council is keen to encourage people to come forward if they know of a young person who is living under a private fostering arrangement.

Councillor Clare Sutton, cabinet member for children’s services, education and skills, said: “I think some people don’t know what private fostering is so I am keen that we use this opportunity to raise awareness that people should let us know if they come to an arrangement where their child lives with someone else.

"It applies equally if you are someone who is looking after a child who is not a close relative.”

Private fostering arrangements might occur because a young person is on a school holiday exchange lasting more than 28 days, or they have chosen to live with a friend, perhaps because of arguments at home.

It’s a requirement to tell Dorset Council if a child or young person is attending a foreign language school for more than 28 days and their host family is within the local authority’s area.