Guardianship service for unaccompanied
and separated children in Scotland
SUMMARY
The Scottish Guardianship Service works with unaccompanied
and separated asylum-seeking and trafficked children and young
people. It provides support, information, advice and advocacy to
enable children and young people to understand and exercise their
rights and entitlements as they go through migration procedures.
The service seeks to build trust-based relationships with children
and young people and empower them in coping with the challeng-
es of being without family support in an unfamiliar country. The
staff are trained in migration law, policy and practice and have
the skills required to support the recovery of children and young
people who have been through severe traumatic experiences.
The service has been shown to be highly valued by the children
and young people who use it and to achieve positive outcomes in
trauma recovery, contact with family, residence applications and
access to services.
This is the only service of this kind in Scotland, and as of 2017 it
has a statutory status.
Country: United Kingdom
Location: Scotland
Website:
http://www.aberlour.org.uk/services/
scottish-guardianship-service/
Target group:
Unaccompanied and separated asylum-seeking
and trafficked children
Implemented by:
The Aberlour Child Care Trust and
the Scottish Refugee Council
Funded by:
Current: the Scottish Government
Pilot: the UK Big Lottery Fund, the Scottish
Government and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation
Timeframe: 2010 – ongoing
Contact person:
Catriona MacSween, Service Manager
[email protected]
KEY TOPICS
CASE MANAGEMENT PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT VOCATIONAL TRAINING
TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD STAFF TRAINING CHILD PARTICIPATION PUBLIC PARTNERSHIP
GUARDIANSHIP LEGAL AID ACCESS TO INFORMATION ADVOCACY AND RESEARCH
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