Call for foster carers and supported board and lodging providers to support unaccompanied minors from Europe

Shropshire Council are looking to recruit more foster carers and those who can provide supported board and lodgings for children and young people, in particular for those seeking asylum.

The call out follows the ongoing refugee crisis that is affecting children and young people, specifically those dispersed from Calais following the closure of the camp.

Since 2015, Shropshire’s Cross-Party Syrian Refugee working group have been committed to support the ongoing humanitarian crisis, the biggest Europe has seen since World War II, and have received numerous offers of help from individuals and communities who’ve already organised themselves to provide aid.

To date the group, with the help from local refugee support groups, have undertaken extensive work to resettle eight families (33 individuals), comprising of 16 adults and 17 children, in the county.

David Minnery, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for children and young people, said:

“We’ve been absolutely inundated with generous and compassionate offers of help and donations from the public, and we are truly grateful and thank everyone for their kind support.

“As part of the council’s commitment to help Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children, we now have an urgent need to recruit foster carers and those who can offer supported board and lodgings. It is vitally important that these children and young people, who have suffered incredible trauma, are placed in safe and loving homes where they can have the time, space and support to begin to rebuild their lives.

“We must remember this is a humanitarian crisis on an unprecedented scale and this is morally the right thing to do.”

Whatever your skillset or experience, don’t rule yourself out before contacting us to see if your skills, experiences and circumstances can provide loving and stable homes for children. So if you feel you could provide supported lodgings, or are interested in being a foster carer for a wide range of children including unaccompanied minors, please contact our fostering service.

For an informal discussion and for further information on supported lodgings please contact Andrew Pready-James on 01743 250100.

Or to find out more about fostering visit www.shropshirefostering.co.uk.

For more information about the Shropshire’s Syrian Refugee resettlement programme visit https://shropshire.gov.uk/syrian-refugee-support/.

Further Information

Local authorities also have a duty to provide additional support for asylum-seeking and refugee children who are ‘looked after’ under section 20 of the Children
Act 1989.

Councillors agreed at Cabinet on 28 September 2016, to accept a further 42 children and young people under the Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) scheme, in response to this dispersal requirement. This includes assisting Kent County Council.

Since its announcement earlier this year, the council has committed to taking up to 60 individuals as part of the Government’s Syrian repatriation programme. As a result, Shropshire’s Syrian Refugee Cross-Party Working Group was set up to oversee the Syrian refugee resettlement in Shropshire.

Both the Syrian refugee resettlement programme and UASC scheme are being funded through a specific grant payment from central government. Shropshire’s Syrian Refugee Cross-Party Working Group continues to liaise with the Home Office to make arrangements to accept further families over the next 12 months.

For more information about the Shropshire’s Syrian Refugee resettlement programme visit https://shropshire.gov.uk/syrian-refugee-support/.