Welfare checks and follow up visits: Homes for Ukraine
How and when welfare checks must be made to assess if a sponsor/host is suitable. Includes note taking and follow up visits.
Councils are expected to make at least one in-person visit once the guest has arrived. This welfare check enables the council to see whether there are any welfare concerns or formal assessments that should be undertaken.
Before a welfare check visit
Before the visit, the council can choose to review their local intelligence, if any, on the sponsor/host’s household in line with pages 18 to 22 of Working together to safeguard children and guidance on information sharing.
Councils should consider if there are any further assessments they may need to complete, for example, child in need assessments under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, Care Act 2014 assessments for adults, as well as what further support the guests and sponsors/hosts may need.
Councils will decide who undertakes the welfare check, ensuring they have sufficient knowledge of potential issues.
During the visit
During the visit, the council may wish to:
- set expectations with both the sponsors/hosts and guests, individually and together:
- about the scheme
- the relationship between them, including that each is responsible for their own family
- what support is available to them
- run through with both sponsors/hosts and guests what potential issues they should be aware of and how they can raise concerns. Check that the guest has the means to access these for themselves should they need to
- share information on support available, and processes such as school places, registering with a GP. You can also direct them to the guidance for sponsors and bringing your pet to the UK from Ukraine
At the visit, councils should sense-check the individuals and their relationships, being aware of potential safeguarding issues.
They should also ensure all guests and members of the sponsor/host’s household listed on the application are correct and present.
Look out for any signs of pressure or coercion
Sponsors/hosts can ask guests to make a reasonable contribution towards food and other household expenses during their stay. Councils should look out for any indications of unintended pressures or coercion guests may feel when they are settling into UK life.
Keep notes on the visit
It is good practice for councils briefly to document the visit for their records.
Use the appropriate processes
During the process of undertaking the welfare check and receiving the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate, councils should also use any additional existing processes to assess whether the sponsor/host is suitable.
Follow-up visits
It is good practice for councils to monitor how the sponsorship arrangement is going, and whether support is needed or if any concerns have emerged.
We recommend that councils conduct at least one in-person check at the 6-month mark, primarily from a fraud perspective, to check the guest is still living in the accommodation, though this is not mandatory and is up to their discretion.
Councils must choose when and how often any follow-up visits should be made, based on their assessment of need and appropriateness, in line with existing statutory responsibilities for children and adults.
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