6. Adult accommodation

What is adult accommodation?

Adult accommodation... ... is a shared house, hotel, or military barracks ... is for adults, which puts the young person at risk of harm ... is managed by accommodation providers who have a duty of safeguarding ... may be in a city, town or in a remote location ... offers no protection-based support for age-disputed young people ... can be targeted by traffickers

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What are accommodation provider’s responsibilities?

The accommodation providers contracted by the Home Office are required to safeguard children via the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract (AASC).

Charity workers report inconsistency and variation in how adult accommodation providers respond to safeguarding risks disclosed by age-disputed children. While some charity workers have positive experiences with responsive individuals, many report poor responses to their safeguarding concerns.

If a child cannot provide new evidence of their age, the accommodation provider is not required to refer them to the Local Authority for an age assessment.

This means that charities are often the only ones to refer young people to the Local Authority as a ‘Child in Need’ for an age assessment.

Your action: Advocate for the young person’s safety in adult accommodation.

This includes making ‘Child in Need’ referrals to the Local Authority and advocating for children to be placed in care while waiting for an age assessment or court decision on their age. **See template referral** and full list of actions to take.

In the meantime, we recommend asking the hotel to move the child you are supporting to their own single room, making it clear that a child sharing a room with adults is an urgent safeguarding concern. You can do this by:

Emailing the accommodation provider’s safeguarding inbox. The three main providers are Clearsprings: [email protected], Serco: [email protected] and Mears: [email protected]

AND

Contacting the hotel staff directly. Some charities find visiting the hotel and advocating in-person for a single room to be the quickest route, but if this is not possible then sending an email to the hotel Manager and asking for an urgent response can also be effective. This information can usually be found online or the child may be able to ask reception for contact details.

A child in adult accommodation is always a safeguarding issue.

Risks in adult accommodation include... ... room-sharing with unrelated adults ... emotional, physical, or sexual abuse ... limited access to medical services ... witnessing traumatic events in the hotel ... poor mental health and suicidal ideation ... social isolation ... exploitation, going missing and being re-trafficked ... hate incidents or hate crime.

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