When I first arrived in this country, it felt like being blindfolded. I had no idea what to do or where to turn.
Upcoming Research in Practice workshops will focus on how social care practitioners can better respond to the care needs of separated children seeking asylum.
The workshops will explore and reflect on the complexities of supporting young people at the interface of care and immigration, drawing from the experiences of young people, practitioner knowledge and recent research, including the Children Caring on the Move study. The study investigated how separated children and young people seeking asylum, and those involved in their care, make sense of, value and take part in caring relationships and care practices.
The research team conducted 75 interviews with separated children and young people and 112 interviews with the adults who support them. This included professionals working across social care, health care, charities, education, mental health, foster care, and semi-independent accommodation, as well as those in local authority and national strategic leadership roles.
What does it feel like to arrive in this country as a child seeking asylum?
We spoke to Salar, a youth advocate for Refugee Education UK who had lived experience as a separated child seeking asylum. He told us:
Young people in these situations often carry tremendous burdens — losing their families, fleeing war zones, and starting over in a completely foreign place. While they may say they are fine, it’s often not the case. Social workers must find ways to build trust and foster a bond that helps these young people feel seen and heard. These connections can change lives forever.
This quote brings to life the complexity, responsibility and impact that social care workers can have when supporting separated children and young people seeking asylum. They arrive in an unfamiliar country without family support, needing to navigate unfamiliar systems and often not speaking the language. We also know from research that a significant proportion of them will have experienced trauma at some point. A study from 2022 found that 77% of young people involved in the research had experienced mental health symptoms and 67% had experienced abuse or assault.
What does care look like for young people who are carrying these burdens?
Salar went on to say:
A strong bond between the social worker and the young care leaver helps young people feel confident and secure. Young people in this situation may have a variety of needs —mental, physical, and spiritual. A good social worker can instil confidence and trust, creating a safe space for the young person to share their feelings and needs. Even something as simple as a smile can make a significant difference.
You never truly know what a young person is feeling or what they are going through. Without building a connection and relationship with them, they may never feel comfortable enough to open up. A social worker’s role should not be about surveillance or gathering information for the Home Office to use against the young person. Instead, social workers can act as independent advocates who genuinely care and want to help.
As Salar says, the support that social care practitioners bring can be life changing. We must however recognise that practitioners provide support in situations of increasing complexity. Many professionals face organisational pressures including time and volume of work, challenges to accessing other services including appropriate accommodation and education, and an increasingly complex immigration system.
How do practitioners stay focused on the needs and the voice of the young person given this context?
Navigating the ethical complexities that arise when working within two legislative frameworks is particularly challenging. One prioritises wellbeing and the other, immigration legislation. This can impact on all aspects of a young person’s life, from where they live to whether they have the practical and psychological security to plan a future.
Professionals who participated in the Children Caring on the Move study, particularly those who worked directly with young people, emphasised that they cared very much about the children and young people they worked with, but saw their roles in wide-ranging ways.
Some focused on the procedural elements of their work practice. Others strove to go above and beyond in helping their young people, sometimes feeling that this came at an emotional cost to themselves. Others felt they were plugging the gaps in a difficult asylum system that created barriers to support. Young people sometimes felt they received ‘care by checkbox’, particularly if there was a high turnover of social workers in their lives. It seemed to them that money dominated the care decisions made about their lives. They also turned to their peers for their care needs, as friendships became a key substitute for ‘family-like’ needs.
Better responding to the care needs of separated children and young people seeking asylum
The upcoming workshops will explore unaccompanied asylum-seeking children’s needs, entitlements and journeys through care, and the ethical complexities of practicing in this area. Led by Ben Feder, head of direct work at Social Workers Without Borders, the workshops draw from the experiences of young people, recent research evidence and practitioner knowledge to explore and reflect on the complexities supporting young people at the interface of care and immigration.
Visit the Children Caring on the Move website to explore the latest project news and resources.
If you are a social care practitioner, you might like to undertake this open access evidence-informed online training, based on research findings from the Children Caring on the Move study.
Supporting separated children and young people seeking asylum
This workshop will explore how social care practitioners can support separated children seeking asylum.
Working with people from war affected areas
War, conflict and trauma is happening around the world with many people displaced through combat and violence. This blog looks at how we can provide effective support for people from war affected areas.