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Our Reference: ndt 0906 113

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31 July 2009
J Cassidy
Email sent to: / Our Ref: ndt 0906 113

Dear J Cassidy,

Your request for information

Thank you for youremail dated 30 June 2009which has been passed to me for a response. You have requested the following information:

  • Data concerning local authorities' Section 20 and Leaving-care support for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children referred to in the publication ‘Safeguarding children: The third joint chief inspectors’ report on arrangements to safeguard children 2008’.
  • The names of the local authorities/councils who are notimplementing Section 20 of the Children Act, in situations whenthey have a duty to do so and are instead using Section 17

Our National Business Unit replied to you by email on 1 July 2009 to acknowledge your request. We wrote to you by email again on 20 July to confirm that we will deal with your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and any other legislation that may apply.

I am now in a position to respond substantively to your request.

I confirm that we are holding the following information:

  • Electronic template documents containing text copied from published Joint Area Review documents relevant to the period April 2006 to February 2008 when the retrieval exercise was carried out. The templates were prepared to assist in the collation of information for the publication of ‘Safeguarding children: The third joint chief inspectors’ report on arrangements to safeguard children 2008’.
  • Electronic copies of the Joint Area Review reports covering the same period. These are already published and do not require further disclosure. They are accessible by the website

Evidence held by Ofsted supports the conclusion reached in the third Joint Chief Inspectors’ Safeguards Review that in some areas compliance with requirements for leaving care was lower for unaccompanied asylum-seeking childrenthan for other care leavers in the same area. We have listed the relevant extracts from the Joint Area Reviews to demonstrate the diversity and extent of the issues.

Bath and North East Somerset

Areas for development

Partners should ensure that unaccompanied asylum seeking minors have access to the full range of specialist services to enable informed plans to be made.

Training on meeting needs of asylum seekers.

Bromley

Care leavers are adequately supported by the Leaving Care Team, which includes staff from the Connexions service. Approximately one third of all cases held by the team are unaccompanied asylum seekers. Those aged 16 and 17 are usually supported as looked after children, which is good practice, but most of those who are not looked after only receive support on demand from the duty worker.

Essex

Some unaccompanied asylum-seeking children have gone missing over the last two years and appropriate steps have been taken to trace them

H & F

Prioritisation for children and young people is generally good. Priorities are agreed between partners based on a good knowledge of needs. However, in CAMHS there has been insufficient analysis of the needs of children and young people from Black and minority ethnic groups and of some vulnerable groups such as unaccompanied minors and looked after children not in stable placements.

The work of a psychologist based within the fostering service to provide training and consultation to foster carers, for example, is a strength. Services are not sufficiently well equipped, however, to fully meet the diverse mental health needs of unaccompanied asylum seeking young people.

Area for improvement:

Address issues of thresholds and access to the full range of CAMHS provision including for unaccompanied asylum seeking children and young people.

Hillingdon

Paragraph 88 Housing for some unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people aged over 16 years is not always suited to theirspecific social or cultural needs. (

Kingston on Thames

Paragraph 17 - There is a well-developed framework for promoting child health. Health indicators for looked after children are good, but unaccompanied asylum seeking children do not always have timely access to health advice from the looked after children’s health service.

Paragraph 19 - Support for looked after children is good overall but more variable for unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

Paragraph 39 - Some accommodation for unaccompanied asylum seekers leaving care is unsuitable and does not fully meet their needs. There is inadequate access to health advice and support for unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

Paragraph 57 - Looked after children are generally well supported in making good attachments and in achieving good outcomes. However, support services are less accessible for unaccompanied asylum seeking children, and they are not all allocated to a qualified social worker.

Some accommodation for unaccompanied asylum seekers leaving care is unsatisfactory and does not fully meet their needs.

Area for improvement

Improve review and improve access to all services for children and young people who are unaccompanied asylum seekers;

Lambeth

In-patient services are not provided in an appropriate setting for adolescents, and unaccompanied asylum seeker children (UASC) do not have the same ease of access to health services as other looked after children.

Area for improvement

Evaluate the impact of new CAMHS provision for children from refugee and asylum seeker families and unaccompanied minors

Leeds

Paragraph 35-The recent growth in the number of unaccompanied asylum seekers requiring accommodation has put considerable strain on capacity, leading to some young people being placed in temporary placements. The

Manchester

Paragraph 17.There is a reliance on hostel and bed-and-breakfast accommodation for a few older young people leaving care and older, unaccompanied asylum seekers.

Northamptonshire

Paragraph 67 - Only three quarters of looked after children over 15have a personal adviser. While clear transition protocols are in place they are not always followed when young people are being transferred to the leaving care team, which is not satisfactory. A significant number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors are not receiving adequate support.

Solihull

Paragraph 30 and 31 -There are gaps in support, particularly for moving on well to adult life.

There is insufficient systematic evaluation of the effectiveness of the service for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and young people, and insufficient use of data to further improve performance.

Insufficient capacity in a few areas to meet current needs effectively, notably the provision of Connexions personal advisors and training and guidance to prepare young people for all aspects of adult life.

With a high proportion of looked after children being unaccompanied asylum-seekers without relatives in the country, the extent of family and friends placements cannot reach the levels found on average elsewhere nationally. There is steady development in specialist fostering services, including an active approach to finding placements for those young people who are unaccompanied asylum-seekers.

Paragraph 50 - unaccompanied asylum-seeking children interviewed during this review were insufficiently aware of the full range of services, including CAMHS, where they can get support for their emotional and mental health needs.

Paragraph 54 - Transition and pathway planning to prepare unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people for adult working life are underdeveloped. Pathway plans pay good attention to identifying needs in health, social care and accommodation. However, few summarise progress made to remedy identified needs or fully address educational needs.

Southend

Paragraph 14 - The gap in the attainment of children and young people in the borough who attend the least effective and most effective schools is being reduced. However, educational opportunities for unaccompanied minors when they become care leavers are unsatisfactory.

Educational opportunities for unaccompanied asylum seekers when they become care leavers are unsatisfactory.

Limited opportunities are provided to unaccompanied minors to achieve their aspirations for education and training.

Area for improvement

Improve education and training opportunities for unaccompanied minors.

WalthamForest 75

Actions to secure education places and access to other provision for a small number of vulnerable Black and minority ethnic groups are slow. Some unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people can wait six months to access education, including English language classes, limiting their educational opportunities.

If you have any queries or concerns about the content of this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me Sarah Milsom whose contact details are at the top of this letter.

Yours sincerely

Anna Lis

Deputy Director, Children

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