What is Move On? Move On is a term given to people who have received a positive decision on their asylum claim and who need support during their early re-settlement. This is a critical period for such individuals as they need to make important decisions about their future in terms of where they want to live, what they want to do with their lives, and how to rebuild their lives again in the UK now that the persecution they have fled from has been officially recognised. For many people, it is an opportunity to become independent, free of state support and a chance to utilise skills and make a contribution to society. This can be achieved by finding settled housing, employment, setting up businesses, or entering formal education and training. How does the Move On Advocacy Project support clients? The Move On Advocacy Project operates with a part time Move On Advocacy Worker for 2.5 days per week and 20 volunteer advocates. The volunteer advocates are matched with individual clients on a one to one basis for a period of up to 8 weeks to assist with accessing housing, benefits, training, employment and any other related issues. The volunteers undertake an intensive training and induction process which includes attending a three day training course and meeting prescribed selection procedures. Once trained and selected, the volunteers attend regular monthly volunteer meetings and receive support and guidance from the MOAP worker. Once a referral is received by the project a nominated facilitator, which may be the MOAP worker or a specially trained volunteer, will arrange a briefing meeting with the client and the identified volunteer. At this stage, the client is informed about the level of support that can be provided by the volunteer advocate, boundaries, and identified needs. It is vital that the client and volunteer are able to work together effectively. Normally matches will be made where there is common ground such as both volunteer and client speaking the same language or being of the same race, gender or religion. Once the client’s needs have been identified, a plan of action will be agreed for the period of the match. During the last 12 months volunteer advocates have assisted clients in the following ways: Accessing Job Centre plus in order to claim Job Seekers Allowance, Income Support, Child Benefit, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit, Backdated benefits, Crisis Loans Obtaining a National Insurance Number in order to secure employment Registering with the Local Authority as homeless Accessing public and private sector housing Accessing ESOL provision and other training and education Assistance with getting skills recognised and transferred Opening bank accounts
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Move On issues relating to the Homelessness Strategy
Identifying the issues: Better data collection is needed in order to predict the homelessness and housing needs of refugees. Suggestions for doing this may include recording refugee presentations to homelessness teams and refugees accessing Choice Based Lettings. There is also a need to identify the reasons for hidden homelessness (sleeping at friend’s houses and overcrowding). This may involve reviewing the impact of local connections, and the lack of refugee knowledge and understanding of available services.
Involving refugees in developing the homelessness strategy: In order to development and deliver mainstream services, it is crucial that refugees are involved. Specifically, this would mean some refugee input into the new strategic review. The Move On project is currently conducting refugee community focus groups on the issue of homelessness. This information could be made available to the public. The strategy should also refer to homelessness and its prevention, within the wider integration agenda.
Addressing refugee needs on leaving NASS accommodation. As can be seen from the case studies, housing is one of the biggest problems that new refugees face. Liverpool City Council acknowledges that due to the high numbers of refugees in priority need, accommodation is over subscribed. The Home Office and the Department for Communities and Local Government developed two initiatives to tackle the problem of refugees leaving NASS accommodation: Tenancy conversion Delayed eviction While the initiative to delay evictions has been taken up (UPM 2006), tenancy conversions have not. Local authority need to engage with private landlords in addressing refugee needs on leaving NASS accommodation.
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Move On case studies Case study: Delays in receiving documentation “ When I received my refugee status letter, I would say that my joy did not last long. The reason for this is because there were so many difficulties I had to go through after I received the letter. I did not have my NASS35 letter; I was not receiving any financial support; NASS immediately stopped my support. With the help of Refugee Action I was introduced to Job Centre Plus at first, and then the Pensions service later. This was because I am 62 years old. It is important that I should mention that the pension office that was supposed to deal with my case is based in Warrington. Everything was supposed to be dealt with over the telephone. Imagine how hard the situation would be for me for me without the help of Refugee Action. This is for the following reasons: I spoke very little English and I did not have money to make calls. At all times, Refugee Action provided an interpreter for me from French to English at meetings and at the organisations I had to go to. It is also important to understand that I only started to be paid 16 weeks later and of course, after I received the NASS35 that I had been struggling to get. As previously mentioned, it would have been extremely difficult to resolve all of the problems without the support and advice of Refugee Action. I take this opportunity to thank Refugee Action again for their efforts and for a successful result.” Case study : Backdated benefit. Sarah got refugee status in October 2005. Sarah has a husband and 3 children, one has serious medical problems. It took Sarah seven months, the intervention of an MP and numerous visits to the Job Centre, to finally get JCP to process her claim for backdated benefit. . When asked about the difficulties she faced in getting what she was entitled to, she said, “If it had been for a few pounds, I wouldn’t have bothered”. She went on to say, “ For three months we lived on £88 per week and food parcels. This had to include gas for cooking and heating each week, school lunches, and trips to the hospital – I regret these past three months getting refugee status” Case Study – experiencing homelessness Mohammad is a 24 year old single man who was granted indefinite leave to remain. He was unable to secure housing because he did not fall into a priority need. Although he was eligible in terms of his age for supported housing schemes offered to young people by a limited number of Registered Social Landlords, these were denied him due to a combination of limited available spaces and his inability to speak English. As he was not in employment and did not have any savings for a deposit, he was unable to access private sector accommodation. Mohammad’s only option was to accept accommodation in a local Direct Access Centre. However, because he did not feel safe in these centres, he chose instead to sleep on the floors of various friends for a period of seven weeks. Eventually, he obtained accommodation through a local refugee housing provider.
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