Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking children

We need more foster carers for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children

We are urgently seeking foster carers across the UK to specialise in unaccompanied and asylum seeking fostering. We are looking for people who can provide the support, guidance and care needed to help these vulnerable young people become settled in the UK.

Fostering young people who are seeking asylum does come with its challenges but it is also hugely rewarding as you start to see them settle into their new life in the UK.

Over the past two years, 9% of children and young people that TACT have provided care for, have been for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children. As specialists in this field, our teams bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to ensure the best outcomes for every child. Additionally, we have cultivated a strong, supportive community of foster carers who specialise in caring for asylum-seeking children. These carers not only provide exceptional support to the children in their care but also offer invaluable mutual assistance, creating a network of solidarity and shared experience.

What will asylum seeking children be like?

The most important thing to bear in mind is that most children will be aged between 11-17 – and a large percentage will be male. Unlike fostering a child from the UK, very little may be known about asylum seeking children when they arrive.

What we do know is that they will have experienced varying degrees of trauma prior to leaving their home country. They may have been separated from their families – some may even have lost family members due to conflict in their home country. Whatever the specific reasons, they will be arriving in the UK tired, vulnerable and possibly very frightened.

What is it like to foster asylum seeking young people?

As a foster carer, your task will be to support these young people in their recovery of resilience, self-esteem, and emotional spirit by creating a safe environment and helping them settle into their new community. They will need your help to learn the language, the customs, and – most importantly – to feel that someone is there to protect them and advocate for them. You may also be required to support young people through the process of applying for permission to stay in the UK. In some cases, you may even need to prepare them to return to their own country.

We try to place children and young people with families where some of their culture or language may already be in place. However, this is not always possible, and we therefore need foster carers who are resourceful and will be able to facilitate the young person to maintain their culture.

We will work very closely with you and provide specialist training to help you support children who are seeking asylum.

“People wonder what it’s like to foster an unaccompanied asylum seeking child, but for us, it’s no different to fostering any other child that needs a place that is warm and safe to live. You don’t need any ‘extra skills’ to care for unaccompanied children, all you need is to be yourself, give them love and make them feel like you them and care for them.

“It’s amazing to see the young people grow into something you would never think is possible at the start. It’s so enjoyable being part of the young people’s lives, helping them grow, having fun and just being there for them when they need you.”

Anil & Pragna, TACT Foster Carers since 2010

– how do I start?

In order to provide a home for unaccompanied children and young people from Afghanistan or any other country, you will first need to be approved as a foster carer. This process usually takes around 6 months.

The first step is to check that you fulfil the basic requirements to become a foster carer:

You must be at least 21 years old
You must have a spare bedroom
You must be a full-time resident of the UK, or have indefinite leave to remain
You must have good spoken and written English
You must have the time and availability to dedicate yourself to fostering

If this sounds like you, we’d like to hear from you now.

Specialist support and training

If you’re interested in fostering refugees and unaccompanied asylum seeking children, we will identify relevant training courses that will help support you in this role. We will ensure that you feel confident and culturally aware of the children’s backgrounds as this will allow you to better understand the young person’s needs.

Our fostering team will be there to support you every step of the way, giving you the guidance and help required to provide stability to the young people in your care. We offer 24/7 support, which means no matter what day of the week or time it is, we will be there by your side when you need us most.

We also operate a dedicated unaccompanied asylum seeking children virtual support group for our foster carers. Covering a variety of topics relevant to caring for asylum seeking children, these groups occur bi-monthly and are overseen by TACT social workers.