6.4 Safeguarding Children from Abroad

RELEVANT CHAPTERS

The Laming Report is particularly relevant to the area of work covered in this chapter.

AMENDMENTS

This chapter was last updated in September 2010 to include a reference in Section 4 to the duties of the UK Border Agency.

1. Introduction

Large numbers of children arrive into this country from overseas every day. Many of these children do so legally in the care of their parents and do not raise any concerns for statutory agencies. However, recent evidence indicates that many children are arriving into the UK under the following circumstances

In the care of adults who, whilst they may be their carers, have no Parental Responsibility for them
In the care of adults who have no documents to demonstrate a relationship with the child
Alone
In the care of agents
As exchange students

Evidence shows that unaccompanied children or those accompanied by someone who is not their parent are particularly vulnerable. The children and many of their carers will need assistance to ensure that the child receives adequate care and accesses health and education services.

A small number of these children may be exposed to the additional risk of commercial, sexual or domestic exploitation.

Immigration legislation impacts significantly on work under the Children Act 1989 to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people from abroad. It is important to note that regulations and legislation in this area of work are complex and subject to constant change through legal challenge. This guidance, therefore intends only to reflect broadly the additional issues faced by families operating also within the context of immigration law. All practitioners need to be aware of this context to their contact with such families. Legal advice on individual cases will usually be required by Children and Young People’s Services.

2. Purpose

The purpose of this guidance is to assist staff in all agencies to:

Understand the issues which can make children from abroad particularly vulnerable
Identify children from abroad who may be in need, including those who may be in need of protection
Know what action to take in accordance with their responsibilities.
Ensure registered sex offenders do not offer housing to these young people

As with any guidance, it is not intended to provide the answer to all situations. No practitioner or agency holds all of the knowledge; the groups of children and families change and our knowledge of specific issues is developing.

3. Principles

There are some key principles underpinning practice within all agencies in relation to unaccompanied children from abroad or those accompanied by someone who does not hold Parental Responsibility.

These are:

Children arriving from abroad who are unaccompanied or accompanied by someone who is not their parent should be assumed to be a Child in Need unless assessment indicates that this is not the case. The assessment of need should include a separate discussion with the child in a setting where, as far as possible, they feel able to talk freely.
Assessing the needs of these children is only possible if their legal status, background experiences and culture are understood, including the culture shock of arrival in this country
Be prepared to seek out information from other sources.
Beware of “interrogating” the child.
Ensure that when working with interpreters they are screened and trained.

4. The Status of Children Who Arrive From Abroad and Legal Duties Towards Them

Children who arrive in the UK alone or who are left at a port of entry by an agent invariably have no right of entry and are unlawfully present. (See Statutory Guidance issued in November 2009 for the UK Border Agency for making arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children)

If they are in a position to claim asylum, this should be arranged as soon as possible if appropriate. Children and Young People’s Services will have a duty to provide appropriate support and services to Children in Need until they are 18 years of age, under section 17 or section 20 of the Children Act 1989.

If their asylum claim is not resolved before they reach 18 years old, support after the age of 18 years is generally provided by the UK Border Agency and jointly with Adult’s Social Care Services where appropriate.

Children who arrive in the UK with or to be with carers without Parental Responsibility (see Section 7, Parental Responsibility) may have leave to enter the country or visas or may be in the UK unlawfully. Children and Young People's Services will have responsibilities towards them if arrangements have been made by the child's parents and they are Privately Fostered under the Private Fostering Regulations. If the child is assessed to be a Child in Need, support can be provided by Children and Young People’s Services for the child.

5. Identification and Initial Action

Whenever any professional identifies a child who they believe has recently moved into this country, they should see the child alone and ascertain his or her wishes and feelings (depending on age and understanding).

The following basic information should always be sought:

Confirmation of the child’s identity, age and immigration status
Confirmation of the carer’s relationship with the child and immigration status
Confirmation of the child’s health and education arrangements in this country.
Confirmation of the child's health and education arrangements in the country of origin and any other country that the child has travelled through.

This should be done in a way which is as unthreatening to the child and carer as possible.

If this information indicates that the child has come from overseas and is being cared for by an unrelated adult or one whose relationship is uncertain, Children and Young People’s Services should be notified as the child will come within the definition of a Privately Fostered child and an assessment must be undertaken under the Private Fostering Regulations.

The immigration status of a child and his/her family has implications for the statutory responsibilities towards the family. It governs what help, if any, can be provided to the adults in the family and how help can be offered to the child.

Where families are subject to immigration legislation, which precludes support to the adults, many families will disappear into the community and wait until benefits can be awarded to them. During this interim period the children may suffer particular hardship – e.g. live in overcrowded and unsuitable conditions and with no access to health or educational services. They are particularly vulnerable to exploitation because of their circumstances.

Children who disappear and where there are concerns about the child's welfare should be consider to be missing and agencies should follow the procedure set out – see Children and Families who go Missing Procedure.

6. Establishing the Child’s Identity and Age

Age is central to the assessment and affects the child’s rights to services and the response by agencies. In addition it is important to establish age so that services are age and developmentally appropriate.

Citizens of EU countries will have passport or ID card (usually both). Unaccompanied children very rarely have possession of any documents to confirm their identity or even to substantiate that they are a child. Their physical appearance may not necessarily reflect his/her age.

The assessment of age is a complex task, which often relies on professional judgement and discretion. Such assessment may be compounded by issues of disability. Moreover, many societies do not place a high level of importance upon age and it may also be calculated in different ways. Some young people may genuinely not know their age and this can be misread as lack of co-operation. Levels of competence in some areas or tasks may exceed or fall short of our expectations of a child of the same age in this country.

The advice of a paediatrician with experience in considering age may be needed to assist in this, in the context of a holistic assessment. However, the High Court has ruled that, unless a paediatrician's report can add something specific to an assessment of age undertaken by an experienced social worker, it will not be necessary.

7. Parental Responsibility

The Children Act 1989 is built around the concept of Parental Responsibility. This legal framework provides the starting point for considering who has rights, responsibility and duties towards a child.

In some cultures, child rearing is a shared responsibility between relatives and members of the community. Adults may bring to this country children for whom they have cared for most of their lives, but who may be unrelated or “distantly” related.

An adult whose own immigration status is unresolved cannot apply for a Residence Order to secure a child for whom he/she is caring.

Children whose parents’ whereabouts are not known have no access to their parents for consent when making important choices about their life. Under Section 3(5) of the Children Act 1989, the person who has the actual care of the child may do all that is reasonable in the circumstances to safeguard the child’s welfare. In these circumstances, children can still attend school, and schools should be pragmatic in allowing the carer to make most decisions normally made by the parent. They are also entitled to health care and have a right to be registered with a GP. If there are difficulties in accessing a GP, the local Patient’s Services should be contacted to assist.

Emergency life-saving treatment will be given if required. However, should the child need medical treatment such as planned surgery or invasive treatment in a non life-threatening situation, the need for consent will become an issue and legal advice may be required by the medical practitioner.

Children and Young People’s Services have statutory duties where the child is Privately Fostered.

Carers/parents are not eligible to claim benefits for their child unless each have been granted some form of “leave to remain” in this country by the Home Office.

8. How To Seek Information From Abroad

Seeking information from abroad should be a routine part of assessing the situation of an unaccompanied child. Professionals from all key agencies – Health, Education, Children and Young People’s Services and the Police – should all be prepared to request information from their equivalent agencies in the country or countries in which a child has lived, in order to gain as full as possible a picture of the child’s preceding circumstances.

It is worth noting that agencies abroad tend to respond quicker to e-mail requests/faxed requests than by letter. Similarly, the Internet may provide a quick source of information to locate appropriate services abroad.

See Contact Details Appendix for contact numbers and addresses which are possible sources of information.

9. Assessment

NB Any assessment should be informed by reference to the issues raised in the Laming Report.

Following a referral to Children and Young People’s Services, any unaccompanied child or child accompanied by someone who does not have Parental Responsibility should receive an Initial Assessment in order to determine whether they are a Child in Need of services, including the need for protection.

Such children should be assessed as a matter of urgency as they may be geographically mobile and their vulnerabilities may be greater. All agencies should enable the child to be quickly linked into universal services, which can begin to address educational and health needs.

The assessment of children from abroad can be challenging. It is helpful to use the Assessment Framework, provided that it is recognised that the assessment has to address not only the barriers which arise from cultural, linguistic and religious differences, but also the particular sensitivities which come from the experiences of many such children and families.

The needs of the child have to be considered, based on an account given by the child or family about a situation, which the professional has neither witnessed nor experienced. In addition, it is often presented in a language, and about a culture and way of life about which the professional is unfamiliar or has only basic knowledge.

It is vital that the services of an interpreter are employed in the child’s first language and that care is taken to ensure that the interpreter knows the correct dialect. Agencies should ensure that the interpreter is professionally trained and, wherever practicable, a member of a recognised organisation. They can be a rich source of information about traditions, politics and history of the area from which the child has arrived. They may also be able to advise on issues like the interpretation of body language and emotional expression.

The first contact with the child and carers is crucial to the engagement with the family and the promotion of trust which underpins the future support, advice and services. Particular sensitivities which may be present include:

Concerns around immigration status
Fear of repatriation
Anxiety raised by yet another professional asking similar question to ones previously asked.
Lack of understanding of the separate role of Children and Young People’s Services to that of the Police and Immigration Services.
Lack of understanding of why an assessment needs to be carried out
Previous experience of being asked questions under threat or torture, or seeing that happen to someone else may affect the child’s and the carer’s response to questioning.
Previous traumatic events can impact upon the child’s mental and physical health.
Previous traumatic events may also lead to a minimising by the family of agency concerns, for example about minor injury, poor living conditions or school attendance, which may appear trivial by comparison. This mismatch may add to the fear and anxiety.
The journey itself as well as the previous living situation may have been the source of trauma
The arrival into a country with unfamiliar culture, systems and language can cause shock and uncertainty, and can affect the mood, behaviour and presentation of the child and carer.

In such circumstances, reluctance to divulge information, fear, confusion or memory loss can easily be mistaken for lack of cooperation, deliberate withholding of information or untruthfulness.

The first task of the initial contact is therefore engagement. Open questions are most helpful, with a clear emphasis on reassurance and simple explanations of the role and reasons for assessment. If the “engagement” with the family is good, there are more likely to be opportunities to expand on the initial contact, as trust is established.

Professionals should ensure that the engagement with the family is carefully planned. This will provide opportunities to expand on the initial contact. The ethnicity, culture, customs and identity of the child must be a focus whilst keeping the child central to the assessment.

10. Seeing the Child

When seeing the child, it is vital not to presume that the child’s views are the same as their carer’s, or that the views and needs of each child are the same. Seeing each child alone is crucial.

It is important to clarify with the child his or her relationship with the person accompanying them. For example, if it is claimed that the child is from the same place of origin as the carer, the child should have appropriate knowledge of that place.

In assessing the reliability of the child’s account, practitioners should bear in mind the possible pressure the child may be under to follow a script or to give answers they believe are expected of them.

The pace of the interviewing of a child should aim to be at the pace appropriate to the child, although the need to ensure that the child is safe may become paramount in some circumstances.

Talking about parents/family can be stressful and painful for children, as can being denied the chance to do so regularly.

11. Child’s developmental needs.

Things to consider include:

Health, behaviour and social presentation can be affected by trauma and loss. Famine and poverty can have an impact upon development.
Wider health needs, including TB, HIV, and Hepatitis B and C. (this applies to the parent/carer also)
Education. What is the child’s experience of school and/or any other education? and what are the child’s educational needs?
Self care skills.
Identity. What is the child’s sense of who they are, including any disabilities they may have, as well as their family, community and history?
Physical appearance. Life experience and trauma can affect this. Lack of nourishment may make the child present as younger or older.
Any physical, sensory or learning disability
The impact of racism on the child’s self image and the particular issues faced by asylum seeking children and their families.

12. Parenting Capacity