December 2024 

Who is this information for?   

This information is to support social workers and local authorities in the North West who are working with children and care leavers with insecure immigration status. This information is specifically about children in the asylum system. However, triple planning that takes into account all possible immigration outcomes is essential for all looked-after children and care leavers who are not British citizens. 

Local authorities are responsible for supporting children to resolve their insecure immigration status whilst they are under their care, and for supporting care leavers including when they turn 18 before their status is resolved. Triple planning should mean that the young person and the local authority are prepared for all potential outcomes, and what they might mean.  

Triple planning  

Triple planning is recommended in the statutory guidance on care for unaccompanied and trafficked children. It means working with the young person to develop future plans based on different possible immigration outcomes. This could be receiving a positive decision before turning 18; receiving no decision before turning 18; or receiving a refusal.  

Local authorities should secure the best outcomes for a young person in their care as their corporate parent (Children and Social Work Act 2017). These outcome include resolving the young person’s immigration status in the best way for them. There is a risk of legal challenge or complaint if social workers are not effectively care planning for a young person, and if a human rights assessment is carried out where there has not been sufficient care planning.  

Effective care planning for a young person seeking asylum should include the following: 

  • Local authorities should focus initial care planning on building the child’s trust in them. Children might have been told not to trust authorities or might have reasons not to trust them (such as an age assessment being carried out by the local authority). 
  • Once trust is built the social worker can develop an understanding of the asylum claim, where in the process they are, and have conversations about what the possible outcomes could be. Social workers who attend lawyers’ appointments with young people could see how the lawyer explains the process and use this as a reference to start conversations.  
  • If a young person has been refused asylum, and they become appeals rights exhausted, their social worker or personal adviser should have a good understanding of the reasons for refusal, what needs to be evidenced for a fresh claim, and of any potential barriers to removal.  
  • Social workers cannot give immigration advice themselves but must ensure the young person receives legal advice before considering ending support or carrying out a human rights assessment. (See our information sheet on human rights assessments
  • With effective triple planning, young people should not be blindsided by what will happen to them and should know that they are supported through the whole process. 
  • Social workers should be aware that reporting conditions may be placed on young people who have been refused asylum, and of the support they might need with those conditions (See our information sheet on reporting for care leavers) 
  • Social workers should evidence how the child’s future lies in the UK. For example, their hopes and wishes for the future, their communities and friendships in the UK, and academic and other achievements. Records of this information could help in future immigration applications and help inform any potential human rights assessments.   
  • Local authorities should ensure appropriate immigration applications are made for children and young people whose future they believe lies in the UK. This may include British citizenship applications. 

Conversations about potential outcomes of an asylum can be difficult for young people and social workers. It can be tempting to tell the young person that everything will be okay, and that they don’t have to worry about the future. However, if the local authority later ends support through a human rights assessment, the confusion and sense of betrayal is more damaging to the young person in the long run. Social workers must find a sensitive and supportive way to start these conversations. 

GMIAU’s Young Leaders group are all young people with lived experience of the asylum process and social care as separated children seeking asylum. They shared their thoughts on the importance of triple planning: 

  • We want more support through the asylum process, and for social workers to have a greater understanding of what could happen. We want to know what our potential options are when we turn 18, based on whether we have refugee status or not.  
  • It is important to us that our care plans are shared with personal advisers so that our support is consistent when we turn 18.  
  • We don’t want what will happen to us to be a surprise. We really want the professionals supporting us to not make promises they cannot keep, so we don’t feel disappointed or like we cannot trust professionals going forward. 

It is therefore important that professionals supporting children and young people seeking asylum understand the processes in their lives, support them through them, and plan for what could happen – the good and the bad.   

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