Pages for Parents, Carers and Families
Welcome to the Sunderland Children's Trust website, and to the pages written specifically with parents, carers and families in mind.
Through Every Child Matters, the Government set out five things that all children and young people can expect to achieve. These are
 1. being healthy
2. staying safe
3. enjoying life and doing well
4. being part of their community
5. having enough money to live on as they become adults
There are many different organisations providing services for children in Sunderland. These organisations have come together in a Children’s Trust arrangement to work together to achieve the best outcomes for all our children and young people. Our Children and Young People’s Plan 2007-2009 ( 1.14mb) sets out what is being done in Sunderland to achieve this. The Annual Report ( 584kb) of the Sunderland Children and Young People's Plan, which sets out the progress made in 2006/07, is now available.
Use the links below to find out more about:
Solution Finder
 A citywide service directory for children’s services is now in place. It is web based and can be accessed from the website www.solutionfinder.org.uk
On the site you can find information on services in Gateshead, Newcastle and Sunderland. There are over 140 services from Sunderland detailed.
There is a keyword search so it is easy for you to find services on the site
.
Family Support Strategy
A Family Support Strategy has been prepared by a multi-agency working group, in consultation with a wide range of colleagues from the Council, Health and the Voluntary and Community Sector, as well as children, young people and families in receipt of services.
Two documents have been produced
- The Strategy ( 506kb)which will provide a consistent approach in the delivery of family support services in Sunderland
- The Consultation Summary ( 192kb) which explains how the views of individuals were able to influence the final Strategy document.
If you have any queries about either of these documents please contact the Planning & Projects Team
Private Fostering.
What is Private Fostering?
From time to time, people may ask someone else to look after their children for a period of a few weeks or more. There might be lots of reasons for this such as
- A family crisis
- A parent being ill
- Teenagers living with the family of a boyfriend or girlfriend
- Children coming from abroad for education or health care
- Children living with a friend’s family because their parent’s have separated or divorced or after an argument at home.
When this happens it may be Private Fostering.
Private Fostering is an arrangement made privately between a parent and another adult, who is not a relative, to look after, in their home, a child or children who are under the age of 16 (under 18 if they are disabled) for longer than 28 days. The person who has been asked to look after the child is a private foster carer.
What should a private foster carer do?
The law says you must tell the local Council about the arrangement. You should do this no less than six weeks before the child comes to live with you, or, where the arrangement was not planned that far ahead, no later than 48 hours after it has started.
While you are privately fostering a child you must tell the Council about any changes to your circumstances, such a change of address or changes in the membership of your household.
You must tell the Council when the child leaves your home, why they have left your care and give the Council the name and address of the person who is now looking after them. Details of who to contact are below. An information leaflet ( 94kb) is available to download.
If you were unaware of what you should do and have a child/young person who is privately fostered, you must now contact the Local Authority to advise them of the arrangement.
What should parents do?
You keep your legal responsibility as a parent (called parental responsibility) and so should still be involved in all decisions about your child’s upbringing and welfare.
The private foster carer will need as much information about your child as possible including health records, what kind of food they like, school records, hobbies, religion and culture.
You should tell the local Council about the arrangement. Even parents who have not been directly involved in making the arrangements also have a legal duty to tell the Council. Details of who to contact are below. An information leaflet ( 94kb) is available to download.
What should other people do?
Any other person who is involved (directly or indirectly) in arranging for a child to be privately fostered must notify the Council not less than six weeks before the arrangement is due to begin (unless made in an emergency)
Any other person who becomes aware that a child is privately fostered, e.g. doctors, health visitors, teachers, housing officers, community workers also have a duty to notify the Council and they will advise parents/ private foster carers of their duty to do so. Details of who to contact are below. An information leaflet ( 94kb) is available to download.
What will the Council do?
We have to make sure that the child is safe and is being well looked after. We must be sure that the care and accommodation in their home is satisfactory. We must be sure that the carers are able to care safely for a child and that other members of the household are suitable.
So that we can be sure we will complete an assessment with the family, child and carers. We will
- Inspect the place where the child will be living
- Ask why and how long the child will be looked after
- Make sure any physical, social and emotional needs of the child are being met
- Make sure any religious, cultural and language needs are being met
- Make sure that arrangements for the child’s education have been made and the local education authority have been told about the arrangement
- Make sure that there is enough money to cover the cost of caring for the child. This may be money from the parents or from Welfare Benefits
- Give advice to private foster carers
- Make sure that the child is able to keep in touch with their family and that their wishes and feelings are listened to and taken into account.
We will visit the child and private foster carers regularly. A visit will be made within one week of the child going to live with the private foster carer and during the first year we will visit at least every six weeks.
After the first year, we will keep on visiting at least every three months until the end of the private fostering arrangement. At these visits we will talk to the private foster carers and the child to make sure that the child is still well cared for. We will need to speak to the child alone.
We shall keep a register of all private fostering arrangements.
What is the Council isn't happy with the arrangement?
If we have any concerns about the arrangements made for the care of the child we will tell the parents (or the person who has parental responsibility if this is different). If the child were unable to return to his/her parents, we would have to decide what action to take to make sure they are safe and well.
Where to find more information
Contact the Duty Social Worker at
Children’s Services
Cassaton House
43-49 Fawcett Street
Sunderland
SR1 1RR
Tel: 0191 520 5555
Email: childrens.services@ssd.sunderland.gov.uk
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