Foster children for purposes of the Act

2 Exceptions to section 1.

1

A child is not a foster child while he is in the care of a local authority or a voluntary organisation or is boarded out by a local authority or a local educational authority.

2

A child is not a foster child while he is in the care of any person—

a

in premises in which any parent, adult relative or guardian of his is for the time being residing;

b

in any voluntary home within the meaning of Part VI of the M1Child Care Act 1980;

c

in any school within the meaning of the M2Education Act 1944 in which he is receiving full-time education;

d

in any hospital, or in any nursing home registered or exempted from registration under the M3Nursing Home Act 1975; or

e

in any home or institution not specified in this subsection or subsection (5) below but maintained by a public or local authority.

3

A child is not a foster child at any time while his care and maintenance are undertaken by any person—

a

who is not a regular foster parent and at that time does not intend to, and does not in fact, undertake his care and maintenance for a continuous period of more than 27 days; or

b

who is a regular foster parent but at that time does not intend to, and does not in fact, undertake his care and maintenance for a continuous period of more than six days.

In this subsection “regular foster parent” means a person who—

i

during the period of 12 months immediately preceding the date on which he begins to undertake the care and maintenance of the child in question, and

ii

otherwise than as a relative or guardian,

had the care and maintenance of one or more children either for a period of, or periods amounting in the aggregate to, not less than three months or for at least three continuous periods each of which was of more than six days.

4

A child is not a foster child while he is in the care of any person in compliance with a supervision order within the meaning of the M4Children and Young Persons Act 1969 or a supervision requirement within the meaning of the M5Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968.

5

A child is not a foster child while he is liable to be detained or subject to guardianship under the Mental Health Act 1959, or is resident in a residential home for mentally disordered persons within the meaning of the M6Residential Homes Act 1980.

6

A child is not a foster child—

a

while he is placed in the care and possession of a person who proposes to adopt him under arrangements made by an adoption agency within the meaning of section 1 of the M7Adoption Act 1976 or section 1 of the M8Adoption (Scotland) Act 1978; or

b

while he is a protected child within the meaning of Part III of the M9Adoption Act 1976.