1. Your first meeting with the young person

Aim of a first meeting with the young person (YP)

building a trusted relationship
identify any need for urgency
collect relevant information to decide on next steps
identify and assess their support needs
explain the process

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This is where you build trust with the young person and where you build a picture of their needs and the urgency of their situation.

You need to clearly explain the age assessment process and next steps to the young person.

Keep your language simple, avoid jargon and keep checking they understand what you're saying.

Manage their expectations from the start - having your age assessed can be very slow and challenging an adverse decision is also a slow process.

We have worked with young people to create resources to help explain the process to them - access the resources.

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Remember: Young people in adult housing are often very isolated and they probably don't have anyone helping them. These young people need extra support with two main things:

navigating the process to correct their recorded age
handling daily life as a child living outside the care system

Watch this video to understand how young people going through age assessments can feel.

Building trust

When you first meet with a young person, it's your chance to start building trust. You want to show them that you empathise and that you understand how they feel, that you are on their side and that you’ll do what you can to support them with the age assessment.

The foundation of a trusted relationship is honest communication; don’t make promises you can’t keep.

Age disputed children are often extremely vulnerable and often need a lot of help and support. Remember that how a child behaves with you depends on what they've been through before and your communication style, behaviour and demeanour. The way you act and speak makes a big difference.

The child may have severe mental health issues or have had negative interactions with people in charge in the past, which inform the way they engage with you.

This can impact on how willing and able they are to share all of their story with you. Keep this in mind especially as you ask them about their claimed age.