A CONTRACT has been awarded for a support service to enable up to six unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to be given a place in a shared home in the county.

Herefordshire Council has awarded the contract, worth a total of around £63,000, to Youthlinx.

The commissioning enabled a shared house to be available to meet the needs of three children (UASCs) in December 2016, with a further three to be placed in spring 2017.

Under the national transfer scheme, Herefordshire has agreed to accept responsibility for up to 25 UASCs, in addition to the five already in the care of the council.

While work was being carried out to develop placement options for UASC – including foster and supported lodgings placements – the council said it was unlikely that enough suitable people would be approved as carers to meet the need, even in the medium and long-term.

In a report, the council said: "Looked after children who are aged over 16 can be placed in independent accommodation. For those UASC who are 16 years old or over, shared accommodation is preferred as long as there is a robust support service in addition to the support available from social workers and personal advisors.

"In order to successfully maintain independent living in shared accommodation, suitable support services must be in place. The support plan will be based on an assessment of individual need to establish a routine and promote life-skills."

The council added that the effectiveness of the support model would be evaluated so that longer term decisions regarding commissioning of housing and support could be made.

The children who will be placed in the shared house will all be under 18.

They will be accepted under the National Transfer Scheme (NTS), which is in place to ensure an equitable share of unaccompanied children across the UK; at the moment the majority of UASCs are placed in Kent and the South East.

All those who are placed within Herefordshire under the NTS, will have been assessed to be a child.

A more detailed age assessment may need to be undertaken to establish a more precise age, where this is in dispute.

In these situations, the age assessment would be completed by a social worker, specifically trained to complete age assessments.