Our children and young people projects
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Work To Increase Placement Sufficiency For Unaccompanied Children
There are 770 unaccompanied migrant children in the care of North-West authorities (RSMP May 2024). Authorities are keen to better meet the needs of these children and are looking for people who can welcome these children into their homes and can provide safe spaces that enables them to make the recovery from their traumatic journeys.
[email protected] will be working with various stakeholders including councils, regional fostering hubs, recruitment teams and supported Lodgings teams across the North West region over the next 12 months with the aim of increasing placement capacity for the unaccompanied children who need foster carers or supported lodgings hosts that can offer them a home and a sense of stability.
Moreover, this project collaborates with organisations to deliver training and learning opportunities for carers and practitioners to support and understand the needs of unaccompanied children and gain further confidence in meeting their needs.
Additional Capacity For Legal Advice For Unaccompanied Children
In response to long waiting times for children to access legal advice, councils in North West England have provided some emergency funding for Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU), to develop additional capacity to provide independent legal advice for young people, with aim to regularise their Leave to Remain in a timely manner. GMIAU recruited extra case workers as a result of this funding, and now accept referrals for young people from across the region. There is still a waiting list, however they will prioritise those about to turn 18 or those who have turned 18 already. We encourage social workers to send referrals in to the Services team at GMIAU or the Refugee Council Independent Unaccompanied Asylum- Seeking Children Support Service (IUSS).
Our regional data collation provided insights into the scale and impact of delays in getting asylum decisions on the young people, such as the adverse impact on their mental health and their ability to make plans for the future, and also challenges to those supporting them. The data provided rationale for funding the centre to help children access legal advice more quickly.
Asylum Status Tracking Tool In Liquid Logic
In collaboration with Manchester City Council The New Arrivals Team and IT colleagues, the RSMP have developed a tool that allows social care teams to track, monitor, and report on children’s legal status and progress through Liquid Logic’s recording system. Data collated in the past revealed serious lapses in tracking of children’s immigration; in the most extreme example, a looked after children who had been granted Limited Leave to Remain failed to review their Visa and had been staying illegally in the country for more than 3 years before this error was identified- which led to further implications with the Home Office around their immigration status in the UK. The tracking tool aims to minimise incidents like this by maintaining a close monitor of the Child’s journey through the care system including their path to gain settlement in the UK. RSMP is working with councils to roll the tool out regionally, and the outcomes to be shared nationally. Social care teams are encouraged to approach their service managers to find out if there is capacity to include this tracking tool within their systems.