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Fostering unaccompanied asylum seeking children in the UK

Children who arrive in the UK without their parents or guardians are often referred to as unaccompanied children or ‘separated children’. These children are usually taken into the care of their nearest local authority and will often live with approved foster carers when there is no suitable family member to look after them.

Reasons why children seek asylum 

There are many reasons why a child or young person might flee their home country and seek asylum in a safe place. Children and their families may have experienced life-threatening situations, including: 

  • war and conflict
  • persecution or torture because of political views or religious beliefs
  • forced 'child marriage', and modern slavery
  • persecution or torture because of ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity.  

If you are a foster carer and think you might be able to look after a young person who has arrived in the UK unaccompanied, let your fostering service know. Foster carers who look after unaccompanied children will need to have the understanding, willingness and skills to meet their specific needs (for example, being able to provide appropriate emotional support and navigate complex immigration systems).

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Children come from countries including Sudan, Iran, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Iraq, Albania, Ethiopia and Syria.

5,125

The number of applications the UK received for asylum from unaccompanied children in the year ending September 2022.

Find out more

Fostering unaccompanied children 

Alongside the task of day-to-day caring, foster carers looking after unaccompanied children will need to be aware of the specific challenges that these children might face.

Foster carers will need to develop the skills:

  • to be able to appropriately support children who will have experienced significant psychological trauma and loss 
  • to be able to support children's physical and mental health wellbeing
  • to understand and support a child's cultural, nutrition and linguistic needs
  • to address potential systemic challenges such as access to education, and healthcare
  • to support children to navigate complex immigration systems
  • to seek help from social workers to address potential systemic challenges such as access to education and health care or immigration services.

Below are other areas of help and support that foster carers will need to offer unaccompanied children.

Provide a secure base

Foster carers and social workers may be providing the first positive, stable adult relationship that these young people have experienced for some time. Providing calm and consistent care while understanding that it may take some time for them to come to trust you is vital.

Help them find positive social roles

After-school activities such as sports, art, music or religious groups provide opportunities to make friends. They also offer the chance for the young person to achieve success, build their self-esteem and feel part of the community, which are vital to developing a sense of belonging and achieving stability. 

Understand stories may change

There may be many reasons why young people struggle or have been unable to share information about their experience and history when they first arrive. The effects of trauma e.g., flashbacks, disturbed sleep, memory impairment and poor mental health can impact on children's ability to share what has happened to them and their families. Foster carers need to provide emotional safety and support when caring for children and young people.

Support their education

Access to education and English language learning is fundamental to inclusion for all children in the UK. Children may have varied experiences of education, for some it will have been disrupted, and additional transitional support will be required. Unaccompanied children have the same entitlement to full-time education as any other child in the UK. Foster carers should be given support to find an appropriate school place with extra funding for language support. 

Maintain language and cultural identity

When English is not the first language for children, interpretive services are essential. Young people are often offered 'English for Speakers of Other Languages' courses at colleges, but this will not immerse them in an English-speaking community in the same way as school does.

Language is part of our identity and children and young people need to be given opportunities to maintain their own language as well as learning English. 

Therapeutic support

Shock, disassociation and trauma may manifest  in a variety of ways and affect the way we think and feel. Emotional and physical reactions can continue long after the trauma is over.

Young people may carry many different feelings and emotions including self-blame, panic attacks, fear, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and guilt. They may also be scared for those who remain in their home country. 

Appropriate therapeutic services should be explored to support children and young people’s experiences of trauma. 

Useful resources

  • Our advice lines provide confidential, independent and impartial advice for foster carers in the UK, including those who are fostering, or about to foster, an unaccompanied child.

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