A voice from practice

In this post, we talk to Grace Hunt, a social worker with NOREAM about her experience of the project, and some of the challenges of social work with families who have NRPF.

What is your role with NOREAM?

Grace: I am currently job sharing the social work role for the NOREAM project. This includes making initial contact with the families who are referred into children’s services, hearing their stories, making a decision on which services are most appropriate for their needs, goal setting and ensuring they are referred for independent immigration and housing advice.

The role also includes supporting threshold decision making on whether the family’s needs would be most appropriately met through the NOREAM project or a statutory section 17 child and family assessment.

More recently, I have been leading the NRPF consultations available to all council staff to receive advice from a social worker, a specialist housing advisor and a specialist immigration advisor.

The team (social worker, researcher, housing advisor, immigration advisor, social work manager) meet every other week to provide updates, reflections and create actions going forward.

How did you get involved with NRPF social work in general, and NOREAM specifically?

Grace: I have worked in local authority children’s safeguarding teams for the past 5 years and have always had a strong political and social interest in immigration. The reason I enjoy working in NRPF social work (NOREAM included) is because the work mostly aligns with my strong anti racist and anti oppressive values. I am of the view that migration is a human right and every human deserves the chance to make a better life for themselves and their families.
I feel that what needs to be discussed more frequently is that a lot of families who become destitute and need support from the state are from countries in which the UK either had a part in or are responsible for colonising during the colonial period. The British state has for so long turned their backs on the people who are seeking a better life from the country that is responsible for impoverishing their nations (many African states included but not exclusive to) for hundreds of years. 

I moved to the NRPF statutory social work team in October 2020 and heard that the NOREAM project was being developed. I started work on the NOREAM project in December 2020 as I was keen to get involved in a project that was creative, flexible and put the needs of the family before bureaucracy which can often be the case in child protection.

Why do you think there is a need for a project like NOREAM?

Grace: As above, there is a wider political history to consider as well as the current economic crisis we are all living through which means there is a need for projects like NOREAM.

Ultimately, the political and economic system needs to change to ensure that there are enough jobs and adequate housing for everyone. If people in the UK and around the world had access to work which paid them a living wage and adequate housing, the movement of people between countries would not be a highly political area as it currently is. This is because the people searching for a way out of poverty (as discussed above) would not be scapegoated by nations who are responsible for taking their countries resources in the first place. This in turn would mean that migrants would most likely be welcome, because there would be a rational and objective stance in recognising the value that the movement of people brings to countries.
Therefore, there is a need for a project like NOREAM because the British state is organised in a way that does not allow migrants on low incomes to move out of poverty and is purposely creating a hostile environment so that it is difficult for migrant families to either enter or survive in the UK.
To provide an example: a mother from Jamaica has been in the UK for the past 18 years and spent most of her life living, working and contributing to the UK economy and society. This mother has leave to remain but no recourse to public funds and works as a cleaner in a hospital (not forgetting how imperative cleaners are and have been during the pandemic) earning around £1200 a month. Every time this mother has to renew her visa (every 2.5 years) it costs over £1000 plus solicitors fees, the most recent application she made for indefinite leave to remain cost her over £3000. To survive on the wage she is on in London without state support and continue to support her 3 children and pay for immigration applications, means that she has had to take out loans meaning that she is never able to lift her and her family out of poverty and debt.

A project like NOREAM not only supports families to get free and reliable immigration and housing advice, it aims to raise awareness of issues around immigration such as the above which is an unknown narrative to most British citizens who have never had to comprehend such issues.

What is different about NOREAM?

Grace: NOREAM allows practitioners to respond to families’ needs in a creative way using the expertise from professionals who would not ordinarily be part of a children’s services plan for a family (immigration and housing).

NOREAM is an effective way to better the outcome for families with NRPF who do not meet the threshold for section 17 support; as far as I’m aware there are no other early help projects that meet the specific needs for families with NRPF.

The project has been running for six months now, how have you found it so far?

Grace: I’ve really enjoyed working on the project, I’m hoping to take the role on full time so that I can dedicate more energy and time into it as statutory work often has a tendency to take over.

Are there any particular challenges or successes from the first half of the project that you would like to share?

Grace: I must admit that I often struggle to stick to the manual if it doesn’t feel like the next step outlined flows in the way that I practise social work, as my interests are always in meeting the family’s needs rather than following a process.

It’s also been frustrating that we have not been effective in using the grant money as this is a hugely important resource that needs to be chanelled into the right places for families. Once we have management agreement from the local authority, a clear plan will be devised around the grant money.

How does this differ from other social work fields?

Grace: I cannot comment on all areas of social work as I have only worked in children’s safeguarding. However, NRPF social work feels hugely different from other fields as often it is about trying to support people to navigate an incredibly difficult system rather than support change to enhance a child’s safety which is the focus of children’s safeguarding.

It often leaves me feeling very frustrated, angry and upset at the way the British immigration system treats human beings and forces people into poverty.

Thinking beyond the project, what needs to change about social work with people who have NRPF?

Grace: I am of the view that local authorities should pay for NRPF social workers to become immigration advisors as an additional skill to their social work toolbox. Alternatively, immigration advisors could be embedded in NRPF teams so that families in poverty/on the brink of destitution can easily access good, reliable advice quickly and effectively.

More discussions need to be had around the impact of NRPF on families (as outlined above) and the impact on children and families of living hand to mouth for a sustained period of time.

If you had to give one piece of advice to social workers about how to support people with NRPF, what would you say?

Grace: Truly hear the family’s stories, allow them to feel human and support them to access free, reliable immigration advice.