6.5 Children from Abroad

This chapter was updated in February 2010 to include reference (in Section 4) to the statutory guidance (issued in November 2009) for the UK Border Agency on making arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

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 come within the definition of a Child in Need, including those who may be in need of protection
Know what action to take in accordance with their responsibilities

As with any guidance, it is not intended to provide the answer to all situations. No practitioner or agency holds all of the knowledge; our knowledge of specific issues is developing and specialist advice on individual cases will often be required.

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:

Never lose sight of the fact that children from abroad are children first – this can often be forgotten in the face of legal and cultural complexities
Children arriving from abroad who are unaccompanied or accompanied by someone who is not their parent should be assumed to be within the definition of 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, the child feels 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 actively 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. They are likely to be in a position to claim asylum and this should be arranged as soon as possible if appropriate. They are the responsibility of the Children’s Social Care Services to support 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 Support and jointly with Adults’ Social Work Services where appropriate.

Children who arrive in the UK with or to be with carers without Parental Responsibility may have leave to enter the country or visas or may be in the UK unlawfully. Children’s Social Care Services may have responsibilities towards them as they may be Privately Fostered. If close relatives care for the child, Private Fostering Regulations will not apply. If the child is assessed to be a Child in Need, support can be provided by the Children’s Social Care Services for the child, and may be provided for the family, if otherwise the family would be destitute.

Under the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009, the UK Border Agency has a Statutory Duty to Safeguard and Promote the Welfare of Children. Statutory Guidance was issued in November 2009 for the UK Border Agency on making arrangements to fulfil this duty.

5. Identification and Initial Action

Whenever any professional comes across a child who they believe has recently moved into this country, the following basic information should be sought:

Confirmation of the child’s identity and immigration status
Confirmation of the carer’s relationship with the child and the carer’s 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’s Social Care Services should be notified in order that an assessment can be undertaken.

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 family and how help can be offered to the child.

Where families are subject to immigration legislation which precludes support to the family, many 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 where there are concerns about the child's welfare should be considered to be missing– see also Protocol for Children and Young People Missing from Home or Care.

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 appropriate and developmentally appropriate.

Citizens of EU countries will have a 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 under 18. Their physical appearance may not necessarily reflect their age.

The assessment of age is a complex task, which often relies on professional judgement and discretion. The advice of a paediatrician with experience in considering age may be needed to assist in this, in the context of a holistic assessment. Such an 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.

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 established rights, responsibilities and duties towards a child.

In some cultures, bringing up children 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 or Special Guardianship 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.

Children who do not have someone with Parental Responsibility caring for them can still attend school, and schools should be pragmatic in allowing the carer to make most decisions normally made by the parent.

Such children are 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 should be given if required. However, should the child need medical treatment such as surgery or invasive treatment in a non life-threatening situation, the need for consent will become an issue and legal advice will be required.

Children’s Social Care Services have statutory duties where the child is Privately Fostered - see also Children Living Away From Home (including Privately Fostering) Procedure.

Carers/parents are not eligible to claim benefits for their child unless they have both 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’s Social Care 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 email requests/faxed requests than by letter. Similarly, the Internet may provide a quick source of information to locate appropriate services abroad.

9. Assessment

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 great. 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 with which the professional is totally 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 shares more than a common language, is professionally trained and is knowledgeable wherever possible about the traditions, politics and history of the area from which the child has arrived. They may 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’s Social Care Services, and that it is not an extension of the Police
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
Past Trauma - Past experiences can impact upon the child’s mental and physical health. This experience can make concerns from the authorities about minor injury or poor living conditions seem trivial and this mismatch may add to the fear and uncertainty
The journey itself as well as the previous living situation may have been the source of trauma
The shock of arrival - the alien culture, system and language can cause shock and uncertainty, and can affect the mood, behaviour and presentation

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.

Within the first contact with the child and carer(s), it is however also vital not to presume that the child’s views are the same as the carer’s, or that the views and needs of each child are the same. Seeing each child alone is crucial, particularly to check out the stated relationships with the person accompanying them. (Someone allegedly from the same place of origin should have a similar knowledge of the place, for example). Clearly the professional is going to be seen as ‘in power’ and as such, a child may believe that they must “get it right” when they may not wholly understand the system or even the question.

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

10. Child’s Developmental Needs

Things to bear in mind 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 may need to be considered, including HIV, Hepatitis B and C and TB. (This applies to the parent/carer also)
Education. What has school meant to this child?
Self care skills. Do not judge competence by comparing with a child of the same age in this country. This child may have had to be very competent in looking after themselves on the journey but unable to do other basic tasks. In some countries, some children will have been working or have been involved in armed conflict. Loss of a parent can enhance or deprive a child of certain skills. Having had to overcome extreme adversity can result in a child who is either deeply troubled or both resourceful and resilient
Identity. Who is this child? What is their sense of themselves, their family, community, tribe, race, history?
Physical appearance. Life experience and trauma can affect this. Lack of nourishment may make the child present as younger or older
Perceptions of what constitutes disability are relative and attitudes towards disabled children may be very different
The impact of racism on the child’s self image and the particular issues currently faced by asylum seeking children and their families

11. Parenting Capacity