What is UASC?

UASC stands for unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 imposes a general duty on local authorities to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need.

Children seeking asylum (UASC) who have no responsible adult to care for them are separated or ‘unaccompanied’, and are therefore ‘in need’. Childrens social care has a gateway duty to assess such children under section 17, and then, very often, to accommodate them under section 20 of the Children Act 1989.

Camden has a brilliant team that supports and helps unaccompanied children, and you should contact them for advice if you believe a young person or child refugee does not have a responsible adult to care for them or that if a young person is having their age challenged. 

Contact UASC duty team on ext 7218.

You can also read more about UASC on the Corams Childrens Legal Centre pages here 

https://www.childrenslegalcentre.com/?sfid=132&_sft_resource_topic=uasc

What is Private Fostering?

Private fostering is an arrangement where a child is looked after by someone who is not a close relative for 28 days or more.

A private foster carer can be part of the child’s wider family, a friend of the family, the parent of the child’s boyfriend or girlfriend or someone unknown but willing to foster the child. A cousin, great aunt or a co-habitee of a mother or father would therefore be a private foster carer.

Close relatives - a grandparent, a brother or sister, an aunt or an uncle, a step-parent - are not private foster carers.

Private fostering is often confused with kinship care. There is a wide variety of arrangements that are considered to be kinship care. It is most tightly defined as care of a child by a close relative (grandparent, sibling, aunt or uncle or step-parent).

By law, private fostering arrangements must be registered with Camden Council’s Children’s Safeguarding and Social Work. This is because Camden has a duty to make sure that children living with private foster carers are being well cared for.

If you are working with a family where you think private fostering arrangements may be occurring, or if you need advice:

• Telephone: 020 7974 6783
• Email: [email protected]
• Or contact Zinah Parekh (on Outlook) 

Here is a Camden leaflet about private fostering.