Fostering Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children

‘Can I foster an Asylum Seeking child fleeing conflict in Afghanistan?’ is a question we have frequently received at Family Fostering Partners over the past few weeks. The short answer is that yes, you can. But only by becoming a foster parent.

Caring for Unaccompanied Asylum Seekers is a specialist form of fostering which is sadly always in high demand across the country.  During the height of the Syrian civil war and the humanitarian crisis and exodus that resulted from the conflict, there was a desperate need for families who could help care for the unaccompanied children and young people who arrived in the UK. We have yet to see the effect of the latest developments in Afghanistan and whether there will be an increase in the number of young people and children needing foster placements as a result, but we anticipate that this will be the case. Foster carers are in high demand, and we predict that this demand will only grow.

Any family of individual looking to become a foster parent to children and young people fleeing war and persecution, either from Afghanistan or elsewhere, would need to go through the exact same process as any other form of fostering. Information on the process of becoming a foster parent can be found HERE.

Furthermore, the needs of Unaccompanied Asylum Seekers can be incredibly high because of the trauma that they have suffered. Many of our parents chose to foster as their full time career, consequently, you may be interested in reading through our "Be There To Care Scheme" which aims to offer financial assistance in between becoming a foster parent and being matched with a child or young person.

I hope that this information helps to answer some of your questions. If you have any more or if you would like to take the first step and organise an initial call then don’t hesitate to contact us.