Written by Anne Ramsay, Glasgow City Council, our most recent Iriss Insight – Social work with unaccompanied asylum seeking children in Scotland – details immigration status of children and young people, the legislative and policy framework, the number of unaccompanied children and young people in Scotland, and lessons for social work policy and practice.
Key points include:
- Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and young people should have the same care planning processes in place as any other looked after and accommodated child, with a particular focus on education, employability and trauma recovery.
- There are tensions between immigration legislation and child welfare legislation. Immigration status is a determining factor in services which young people can access and their right to work and study.
- Social workers require an understanding of these tensions and must take them into account within the care planning process.
- There is a role for Scottish Government in developing policy and good practice guidelines to address tensions between immigration legislation and policy, and child welfare legislation and policy.
