them, introduce them to social opportunities
and enable them to integrate into community
life 4 . They advocate for children’s best interests
in all decisions affecting them, provide emotion-
al support, help them to overcome language and
cultural barriers and facilitate their access to
specialist trauma recovery services if needed. The service advocates for and supports un-
accompanied asylum-seeking and trafficked
children to be included in mainstream services
and helps them to become familiar with their
local communities and access informal social
support and other resources that can help with
integration such as language learning.
The service works to help unaccompanied
and separated asylum-seeking children to feel
supported and empowered throughout their
journey whilst their claim is assessed and their
status determined. It enables them to access
the assistance they need when they need it and
helps them to make informed decisions about
their future. Guardians work with the local community
to make sure children are monitored and
develop the required social skills. Children
and young people receive services from local
authorities looking after them or local voluntary
organisations; they may also be involved with
community groups such as youth or religious
organisations. The children and young people
attend schools or other educational provisions,
depending on age. The service works with the
Red Cross in tracing and establishing contact
with family members where appropriate.
To date the project has worked with around 365
children and young people. They have all been
provided with independent advocacy, personal
support and advice and help with migration
procedures. Around 60% of them have been
granted leave to remain in the UK after the age
of 18, in contrast with the very low percentage of
children who are successful in securing the right
to stay without support of this kind.
The Scottish Guardianship Service project
underwent an independent external evaluation
by two researchers specialising in the field of
migration. The evaluation took place during
the initial 30 months pilot phase and found
evidence of positive outcomes in a number of
domains and no major weaknesses.
4 _ “Refugees and Asylum-Seekers – Unaccompanied Children”, Scottish Government, n.d.,
https://beta.gov.scot/policies/refugees-and-asylum-seekers/unaccompanied-children/.
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