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Chapter 14 | Policy and Practice Recommendations
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services for all unaccompanied or separated children
in need of such services.
7.11 The Department for Education and Skills in
conjunction with the Association of Directors of
Social Services and members of the Refugee Children’s
Consortium, should devise and implement
a national training scheme to ensure that all social
services departments are aware of the particular
psychiatric and psychological needs of the unaccompanied
or separated children whom they
may be accommodating or may accommodate
in the future.
Chapter 8
Need for a Legal Guardian
Ineffective guardianship
A plethora of services is provided but none represent
effective guardianship, responsive to the best
interests of the child is needed. The multiplicity of
supportive personnel can lead to confusion and the
absence of any emotional bond with a trusted or
caring adult figure in loco parentis. Moreover, the
existence of different agencies leads to “buck passing”
with unaccompanied or separated children
remaining uncertain about the support they can
expect. Unaccompanied or separated children do
not have an adult who takes responsibility for their
welfare and the progress of their asylum application.
Consequences of lack of effective adult support
The lack of effective adult support has many negative
effects. Unaccompanied children are insufficiently
prepared for entering the asylum determination
process, sometimes misunderstand the purposes of
the screening interview, and are not always provided
with appropriate care by the local authority accommodating
them. Moreover, the lack of adult support
affects the unaccompanied or separated child’s ability
to disclose the full extent of past persecution and to
cope with the additional stress of the asylum determination
process. It may also have a negative effect on
the child’s ability to comply with the requirements
of the asylum determination process, since no single
adult is under any statutory duty to assist the unaccompanied
or separated child through this process.
Lack of proper training for guardians
Our research revealed that many of the adults with
whom unaccompanied children come in contact
during the screening or determination process lack
the necessary legal understanding to assist the child
appropriately.
Conflicting roles of legal representatives
Often the only adult playing a role in relation to
the unaccompanied or separated child’s asylum
determination process is the legal representative.
But advocates charged with representing the child
applicant face severe conflicts when they find
themselves called upon to choose between making
best interest judgements and following the child’s
instructions. Many legal representatives are concerned
about this requirement to perform two
potentially conflicting roles.
Steps taken to ensure better legal guardianship
At one time it appeared that the U.K. Government
was intending to take steps to create a form of legal
guardianship which would better respond to the
needs of unaccompanied or separated children. The
Green Paper “Every Child Matters” 21 recognized the
need for unaccompanied or separated children to
have a consistent adult in their life speaking on their
behalf and mentoring them. 22 However, no additional
provisions for unaccompanied or separated
children were included in the subsequent Children
Act 2004 despite an amendment being tabled 23 187
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