Social Workers conducting age assessments of young people claiming asylum. (Newport 25/05/09)

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The original message was received at Mon, 25 May 2009 05:09:54 +0100 (BST)
from solfw0 [192.168.1.254]

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Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your recent enquiry from the Newport City Council
website.

Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate officer to be
actioned. . Should you need to contact us, The contact name for your
request is Karen Black

Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact
us on the Telephone number below. Our hours of opening are Monday to
Friday from 8a.m. to 8p.m. and 9a.m. to 1p.m. Saturday.

Kind Regards,

Newport City Council Contact Centre

Tel: 01633 656 656
Minicom: 01633 656 657

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Please accept this email as formal acknowledgement of your request for
information under the Freedom of Information Act. As per the terms of
the Freedom of Information Act, we will respond to your request within
20 working days.

Regards

Karen Black
Public Information Officer
(01633) 233256 direct line
[email address]
Room 108
Social Wellbeing & Housing
Civic Centre
Newport NP20 4UR

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Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your recent enquiry from the Newport City Council
website.

Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate FOI officer to be
actioned. . Should you need to contact us, The contact name for your
request is Karen Black

Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact
us on the Telephone number below. Our hours of opening are Monday to
Friday from 8a.m. to 8p.m. and 9a.m. to 1p.m. Saturday.

Kind Regards,

Newport City Council Contact Centre

Tel: 01633 656 656
Minicom: 01633 656 657

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Please accept this email as formal acknowledgement of your request for
information under the Freedom of Information Act. As per the terms of
the Freedom of Information Act, we will respond to your request within
20 working days.

Regards

Karen Black
Public Information Officer
(01633) 233256 direct line
[email address]
Room 108
Social Wellbeing & Housing
Civic Centre
Newport NP20 4UR

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Dear J Cassidy
In response to your Freedom of Information request below, please see
our comments:

We have specific workers for Asylum; a Social Worker and a Support
Worker.

The Social Worker, Support Worker, Senior Practitioner and Team Manager
of the Duty Team have all received age assessment training.

Newport City Council has never completed age assessments in isolation;
there are always two staff members, usually rwo qualified workers but
sometimes one qualified and the (age assessment trained) Support Worker;
who is very experienced and has worked with UASC for many years.

All interviews are conducted with an interpreter.

We also take into account any observations made by the LAC nurse of
other relevant professionals.

I hope this information is sufficient for your needs.

Regards

Karen Black
Public Information Officer
(01633) 233256 direct line
[email address]
Room 108
Social Wellbeing & Housing
Civic Centre
Newport NP20 4UR

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The recent court ruling A v London Borough of Croydon, WK v Kent
Borough Council [2009] EWHC 939 (Admin), 8 May 2009, [1] makes a
number of references to the practice of two Social Workers
conducting age assessments of young people claiming asylum.

In view of the fact that the Care Standards Act 2000 (Chapter 14
(part 1V) section 61) contained provisions for the protection of
the professional title of "Social Worker" and that anyone using
this Title has to be registered on one of the UK Social Care
Registers, (since 01 April 2005) can you Confirm or Deny the
following:

1) Age assessments are always conducted by at least two Social
Workers?

1.1 If they are not always conducted by at least two Social
Workers, can you provide information that explains this apparent
anomaly and provide details of the job Titles of those who
currently conduct age assessments.

2) That since 01 April 2005 you have always used at least two
Social Workers?

2.1) If you have not always used two Social Workers, since 01
April
2005, please provide details of the job Titles of those who
currently conduct age assessments.

3) During said Court case a Helen Johnson, Refugee Council's
Children's Panel, questioned the assertion by a Ms Janet Patrick,
senior manager of the Croydon Council's Unaccompanied Minors'
Team,
that Council's are routinely advising applicants that they can
have
an adult present to give support during their age assessment.

Therefore can you provide copies of any information you hold,
such
as policies, memos, notes and guidance, (showing dates
issued/written/drafted) as given to Social Workers, the
applicants
or anyone else, that Confirms or Denies that applicants are
routinely advised that they can have an adult present to give
support.

4) Please provide copies of any age assessment guidance or
training
material you hold.

Relevant quotes:

"The social workers involved in the decision making process who
are
employed by the local authorities in these cases have had
training
and do have substantial experience in assessing the age of UASCs.

My conclusion is that age determination, being part of broader
questions relating to the provision of accommodation, and being
but
one of the many responsibilities for local authorities to provide
support for children and families under Part III, are decisions
which fall squarely within the social field of child care and
are,
therefore, customarily and properly entrusted to the social
workers
to decide.

This is based partly on the contention that their judgment can be
no better than that of the experienced social worker...

It is said that her opinions in a number of cases show a
consistent
disagreement with the social workers' factual observations always
in favour of the individual in question.

While recognising and indeed supporting the use of social workers
and other professionals he records concerns that financial
pressures can influence the assessment of age since the
particular
age of an individual will require a greater or lesser expenditure
on him.

But the real question in these cases is whether a report from a
paediatrician which reaches a conclusion contrary to that found
by
experienced social workers means that the assessment must be
varied
in the UASC's favour.

It is Dr Stern's view that a paediatrician is unlikely to be able
to reach a conclusion which is superior to that reached by an
experienced social worker, provided, of course, that the social
worker is properly trained and experienced and conducted the
necessary interview in an appropriate fashion.

Thus I do not think that the existence of a report from Dr Birch
can generally attract any greater weight than the observations of
an experienced social worker. In order to comply with the
Hillingdon and Croydon guidelines, the assessments of social
workers will be made by two working together and based upon
interviews and observations over a far greater time period than
that available to Dr Birch or indeed any paediatrician instructed
by a UASC representative.

All this presupposes that the authority's decision is made by
properly trained and experienced social workers in accordance
with
the guidelines approved by Stanley Burnton J in B v Merton.

Each authority has put before the court evidence of the training
given to and the experience of the social workers who have to
deal
with age assessment.

She is satisfied from her experience that the reports of Drs
Michie
and Birch do not raise matters which cast doubt on the
reliability
of the decision reached by the two social workers."

etc

Reference:

[1] A Claimant - and - London Borough of Croydon - and -
Secretary
of State for the Home Department Defendant Interested Party And
WK
Claimant - and - Secretary of State for the Home Department First
Defendant - and - Kent County Council Second Defendant [2009]
EWHC
939 (Admin), 8 May 2009
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admi...

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Yours faithfully,

Cassidy, J

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