Comment on UASC age assessments
ADCS President Charlotte Ramsden said:
“Unaccompanied asylum seeking children are fleeing desperate situations and arrive here alone in search of safety. Their care and best interests must be at the heart of any decision made, but we are aware of too many instances where children have been wrongly assessed as adults. Conducting age assessments is complex and specialist work and the persistently high numbers of arrivals we have seen in recent months is adding pressures to those caused by the pandemic. However, age assessments are frequently the subject of legal challenge and local authorities are picking up the pieces where decisions made by Home Office are found to be incorrect. This is placing additional pressure on us and our staff at a time when children’s services and social workers are already stretched. It is also a scary and worrying time for children who are far from home and initially placed in unregistered and unregulated settings, namely hotels.
“Urgent improvements are needed in the initial screening process that takes place at ports of entry. ADCS cautiously supports the government’s plans to introduce a common assessment process, however, action is needed now. Age assessments must be driven by a child-centric approach and should be thorough as well as timely. Engaging with gateway local authorities in particular will be key here as they have a lot of expertise in this area. The safety and best interests of asylum seeking children must be at the heart of any reforms or decisions made.”
ENDS