Accessing support from social services (Section 17 support)
TwMCThis guide is for general advice around accessing support from social services (Section 17 support) if you are experiencing destitution or homelessness. It is not a substitute for individual advice. Please get in touch with us if you would like advice around your rights and entitlements.
This factsheet is for people who have No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) or no leave to remain and have children and are experiencing issues with housing and/or are struggling financially.
In this guide
In this guide you will find;
- What is Section 17 support?
- Are you eligible for Section 17 support?
- How do you access Section 17 support?
- Having an assessment by social care
- What to expect from the support
- What to do if you are refused support
- Making complaints
What is Section 17 support?
Section 17 refers to a piece of law (Section 17 Children Act 1989) that places a duty on councils to meet the needs of children in their area who are ‘in need’. This can be for lots of reasons, but for people with NRPF or without leave, it can provide a safety net for housing and financial support.
Section 17 is also used to provide support to any child who is in need, including for instance, services provided to disabled children. It can provide other support such as family support.
The law says that councils can provide accommodation and financial support to meet children’s needs and other kinds of support, dependant on your individual circumstances. This is why the social care department at the council will complete an assessment to determine what help you need. This video from Project 17 explains more;
Are you eligible for Section 17 support?
To access section 17 support, your child(ren) need to be in ‘need’. What this means is that something is affecting their health and development. For families with immigration problems, this could be things like insecure or unsafe housing, homelessness, not having enough money for things like food, clothes and travel to school.
There are some restrictions to accessing section 17 support (housing and financial support). You should seek specialist advice if you are worried.
- You have leave to remain with a condition of NRPF.
- You have no leave to remain, but have a pending immigration application / appeal or are working towards one.
Your immigration status
Your immigration status can affect the support you can receive from social care. However, a local authority must assess your child to see if they are ‘in need’ regardless of immigration status and should if you have no leave to remain do a second assessment, a ‘human rights assessment’ to explore whether they need to provide support.
If you are destitute, social care should help you with accommodation and financial support whilst they do their assessments.
It is important that you get immigration advice as soon as possible if you do not have leave to remain.
How do you access Section 17 support?
You can speak to an organisation to help you with accessing section 17 support. We would usually recommend that people get advice where possible. Some organisations that help with this are;
There are other organisations who can provide help, in the downloadable leaflet at the bottom of this guide.
A caseworker or advisor can help you approach the local authority and request this kind of support for your family and give you advice about what to expect and how the process works. They can also help you with arranging immigration advice and other services to help you and your children.
You may wish to approach a council directly. If you want to do this, you approach the council where you live or where your children are present at the time. This would usually be by contacting the MASH team or Children’s Services ‘Front Door’.
If you do decide to approach a council directly, we recommend that you read the guide, which gives much more information on the process. The guide also contains a list of places where you can get immigration advice.
In an emergency
In an emergency out of hours, such as if you are made homeless on a weekend or evening you should contact the emergency duty team of your local council.
Having an assessment by children’s social care
Once you have been referred to social care or have approached them yourself, they should conduct an assessment if it is likely that your children are ‘in need‘.
A child in need assessment is completed by a social worker or children’s practitioner in social care and finds out lots of information about children and families to assess their needs.
They will often see the children at home or in school or in the offices and will speak to parents and get their views. Also, they may wish to see your child(ren) alone. It helps to prepare your documents and evidence ahead of having an assessment.
You will be asked to give permission for social services to run checks and contact your child’s school, nursery, your GP and the Home Office, along with any other organisations you are working with as part of the assessment. They will need to speak to other people in order to carry out a proper assessment of need.
It is very important that you are open and honest with social services about your situation when you approach them for support. As part of the assessment, they will likely run checks on things like your immigration status with the Home Office, or run something like a credit check. They will also make enquiries with those who know your child, like a school or nursery and sometimes your GP.
What to expect if you are provided with support
Accommodation
If social care decide to give you accommodation then they should provide you with accommodation. However, accommodation can be difficult for some families;
- They may give you accommodation outside of the area you live in now. For example, you may face a long journey to school or being away from your support network.
- Most accommodation that we see given to families is in shared accommodation with other people.
- Sometimes, the accommodation is unsuitable and has problems.
If you do not have enough money for things like bills, social services should give you enough money to cover these costs or pay for them directly.
Refusing accommodation provided can be risky and if you have unsuitable accommodation or are thinking about refusing accommodation, you should contact an organisation for advice about this. If you are not able to get advice in time, we recommend accepting the accommodation offered and then seeking advice.
Challenging unsuitable accommodation
Challenging the location of accommodation provided can be difficult. However, some things can make a stronger case.
- Your child has health needs or a disability and attends specialist provision in the area you lived.
- Your child is taking important exams like GCSE’s and their school is far away and it is affecting their studies.
- There are medical needs that make it difficult to travel.
- There are other special reasons that make it particularly hard for you to be housed further away.
If there are problems with the suitability of the accommodation, such as damp, mould, infestations or things that make the accommodation unsafe, you should speak to the property manager and your caseworker at the council straight away, they should make the accommodation safe and able to be lived in. You can also seek advice from your caseworker if you have one. You could take photos and videos of the property problems as evidence.
Subsistence (financial support)
If you are given subsistence then they should provide you with financial support. There is no fixed amount for financial support but it should be ‘enough’ to meet a child’s assessed needs (from the child in need assessment) and generally, the minimum is the same as what is provided to families who receive asylum support. The experiences of families we work with are that financial support is not much money and covers only basics. Most families receive their subsistence regularly on a prepayment card but this can be different depending on the council. Some may need for example to collect cash from the council offices.
There may be some situations where financial support does not meet the needs of a child or there are special circumstances where they need to adjust the amount. For instance, if your travel costs increase as a result of accommodation or if you need special items for a disabled child. You can raise issues with your subsistence with your social worker, or contact your caseworker at a charity for help. If you need advice on this you can seek advice from us.
What to do if you are refused support
If you feel like you are not be listened to about the support you are being provided, have been refused support or social services are threatening to withdraw the support you are being provided we recommend that you speak to an organisation straight away.
Some people need legal support when things happen with social services, such as refusing to support or withdrawing support. You can access a community care solicitor directly, or you can speak to a charity.
Making a complaint
Sometimes families we work with who approach social care for help feel that they haven’t been treated very well, or report difficulties about not being listened to or being treated in a way they find upsetting.
Also, people may feel that problems about their support are not being addressed.
When this happens you can make a complaint about social services. You can do this by writing to the council and telling them in detail about your concerns and worries. You can find the details for the local councils and their complaints process on each council’s website, or speak to a charity who can help you do this.
If you are worried that your complaint or support is not being taken seriously. You can also speak to your local mp. You can find your local MP here.
