unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC)

Dear J Cassidy
Thank you for your request for information, which has been forwarded to
the appropriate officers for reply.
Yours sincerely
Richard Childs
County Archivist

"Cassidy, J" To FOI requests at West
<[FOI #11916 email]> Sussex County Council
<[West Sussex County Council request email]>
13/05/2009 20:37 cc
Subject Freedom of Information
request - unaccompanied
asylum seeking children
(UASC)

Dear Sir or Madam,

According to recent statistics [1], 140, children ceased to be
looked after after during the year ending 31 March 2008, with
regards this cohort of looked after children can inform me:

1) what percentage of them are or had been unaccompanied asylum
seeking children (UASC)?

2) how many of them are or had been UASC?

Out of these 270 children please inform me, for those classed as
UASC:

3) how many weeks, on average, they had been looked after for?

Out of these 270 children please inform me, for those not classed
as UASC:

4) how many weeks, on average, they had been looked after for?

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Reference:

[1] DCSF: Children looked after in England (including adoption and
care leavers) year ending 31 March 2008
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/...

Yours faithfully,

Cassidy, J

show quoted sections

Dear J Cassidy,

I am writing in response to your Freedom of Information request of 13 May
2009, re-clarified on 14 and 22 May 2009.

The responses to your questions are:

1) 29.5% of the children Children (96) were UASC and ceased being LAC
during 2007/08

2) Appears to be the same question as Q1

3) The average length of time that the UASC's were supported before either
being closed or transferred to Care Leaving status was 54 weeks. Our
cases ranged from being open for a single night up to a case initially
opened in 1999 and was LAC for 425 weeks.

Yours sincerely,

Sent on behalf of
Kirsty Hanna
Team Manager [Child Asylum Team]
West Sussex County Council provides you the right to request a review of this
response under its complaints procedure. If you decide to request a review and
are not satisfied with the outcome you then have the right to direct your
comments to the Information Commissioner who will give it consideration.The
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF.

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Maggie Lucey | Data Management & Access Officer | West Sussex County |
| Council |
| Telephone: +44 01243 777519 Internal 77519 | [mobile number] | |
| Email@ [email address] |
| Room 312, County Hall, Tower Street, Chichester, West Sussex. PO19 1QT |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

--
This e-mail and any attachments are confidential and intended solely for
the persons addressed. If it has come to you in error please reply to
advise us but you should not read it, copy it, show it to anyone else nor
make any other use of its content. West Sussex County Council takes
steps to ensure e-mails and attachments are virus-free but you should
carry out your own checks before opening any attachment.

Dear J Cassidy,

I am writing in response to your Freedom of Information of 14.05.2009.

In answer to your questions:

1. All UASCS who arrive via Gatwick airport or who come to any agency's
attention for the first time within West Sussex County Council boundaries
are referred for immediate support with Gatwick Children's Service.
2. and 3. After an immediate, brief assessment of their situation at the
point of arrival, they are cared for under Section 20 pending the outcome
of a more thorough assessment.
4. As long as these children have remained looked after for 13 weeks or
more, they are supported under the Children (Leaving care) Act 2000.
4.1) The average length of time that the UASC's were supported under
Section 20 before either being closed or transferred to Care Leaving
status was 54 weeks.
6) We do not have anything specific to this client group as they are
treated the same as any indigenous young person that would present to us
as either a child in need or an abandoned child. However, West Sussex
County Council's Child Asylum Team work within the caselaw provided by the
Hillingdon Judgement whereby we recognise that any abandoned child should
be cared for under Section 20 regardless of their age.

For further information, please see attached link to our Care Management
Policy & Guidance in respect of Children & Families.

http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/ccm/content...

Information on the rules & guidance for the Children [Leaving Care Act]
2000 can be found here:

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsands...

Both of the above policies evidence the fact that we do not differentiate
between UASC and Looked After Children.

Yours sincerely,

Sent on behalf of
Kirsty Hanna
Team Manager [Child Asylum Team]
West Sussex County Council provides you the right to request a review of this
response under its complaints procedure. If you decide to request a review and
are not satisfied with the outcome you then have the right to direct your
comments to the Information Commissioner who will give it consideration.The
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF.

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Maggie Lucey | Data Management & Access Officer | West Sussex County |
| Council |
| Telephone: +44 01243 777519 Internal 77519 | [mobile number] | |
| Email@ [email address] |
| Room 312, County Hall, Tower Street, Chichester, West Sussex. PO19 1QT |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

--
This e-mail and any attachments are confidential and intended solely for
the persons addressed. If it has come to you in error please reply to
advise us but you should not read it, copy it, show it to anyone else nor
make any other use of its content. West Sussex County Council takes
steps to ensure e-mails and attachments are virus-free but you should
carry out your own checks before opening any attachment.