Defines the issues associated with unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee children, describes the goals of the training course, and provides detailed information necessary for trainers to furnish an effective education for participants. Unaccompanied refugee children in the United Kingdom must be classified and identified as to their origin, identity, and needs; care givers must understand the child’s experience prior to arriving in the UK, and know how the process these children will undergo will affect them. The program teaches the care giver to recognize the trauma of loss and separation and provide direction to assist children to cope effectively with their needs in a foster home. Participants are taught to understand resilience, a concept that should be strengthened in order to prepare these children for their time during and after foster care. The care givers must help the children deal with issues of confidentiality, power, and unrealistic expectations and must prepare the children to meet challenges of independence once they leave the foster care environment. Though this resource comes from the UK, it may be useful to Unaccompanied Refugee Minor staff who train foster families that accept URM/DUCS youth.
