Friends aren't sure if they want son home we have him here need advice

[singingmum]

Our friends son is staying with us he's 15 and has been in trouble due to probs at home and friends influence.We have offered to have him for a while to give them a break and he's now here.
Simple so far but when we try to speak to his parents suddenly they aren't answering the phone or calling.They have made comments about him not coming home and he doesn't want to go.
We are willing to take him on but are unsure how we do this just through arrangments with his parents and I want to be prepared in case.We've been HEing him since xmas partly with them mainly ourselves and authorities were ok with this and police happy with him being here as he's mates with our son and shares his room when he's here
Can anyone advise me on this at all
All advice most def appreciated

My goodness, what a difficult and complicated situation.

Is the boy happy at your house? Do you find him to be a problem?

How long has he been with you?

Are the parents contributing financially - and if not, do you need/want that to happen?

He's a mixed up but bright nice kid and thats whats driven us to say that we are willing to take him on if they say they won't have him back.
He's been an idiot and stole money from his parents to pay someone to not beat him up as he fell in with bad crowd in school which is why he's HE.
This time he's been with us 2 days but he spent xmas with us as they went on hol so they could all have a break they didn't call then only had one message which was voice text "merry xmas" nothing else so we knew they weren't good at comunication before.However with the fact that they have expresed that they may not want him home we thought they might talk to us more.
They aren't contributing this time as it's only been a few days but my partner and I have said that more than 2 weeks and we will have to approach this subject as we are on a tight budget as he works in a mimimum wage job and I HE our 2 children. Ob if he stays with us we would have to make it legal with money as well but we are unsure how we would work things as I worry that if he hurts himself or whatever I can't give any permission for treatment and they are not talking to us so could be prob

You need to be appointed legal guardians I would imagine - though not sure about how you do that - presumably the parents would have to relinquish their rights to make decisions on his behalf. You also need the child benefit at least.

Are SS aware? It probably comes under private fostering to them unlessyou are related. If it's all working they aren't likely to take him away but they can help clarify things legally. It's things like if he was in an accident who would consent to medical treatment etc

Have you ever met his parents? Do you have any sort of relationship with them?

Would think you should try to meet with them to talk about the current situation, and the future options - without the boy around.

Not sure what you should be asking for though.

You sound a very nice, kind person to take on someones son like this.I hope it will work out well for you all.