130 Dorset families still waiting to be matched with refugees from Ukraine
320 children from Ukraine are already here in Dorset
More than 130 families in Dorset who've offered to host people from war torn Ukraine have yet to be matched with refugees.
A Dorset Council report also says 62 refugees have had to be re-matched with host families since arriving.
Within it, it says:
“Arrangements are now being put in place to offer financial support to hosts and to support Ukrainian guests to find alternative accommodation either through rematching or with support to enter the private rented sector.”
739 people from Ukraine are being cared for in the county, and 320 of them are children.
The report also suggests that 70% of Dorset hosts are happy to continue hosting beyond the initial arrangement of six months.
Dorset schools are said to be working hard to accommodate arriving children with 278 school applications received and 242 children on roll although, of these, 23 have made other arrangements, left the area or gone back to Ukraine with 13 yet to confirm their intentions.
Dorset Council’s resettlement team has also looked after over a hundred Syrian and Afghan refugees and is currently directly supporting 15 families with another family expected in December.
Dorset Council now has 41 unaccompanied refugee children in its care: nine aged 15 and below, and 32 who are 16 or 17 – although more than 80 per cent of them are being cared for out of the county, which has increased the pressure on Dorset social work teams.
The report said:
“This has resulted in an overall increase in the number of children in care, which otherwise would have seen a reduction. It has also become increasingly difficult to secure local placements for these children, with the majority (83%) being placed out of county, resulting in additional travel for social workers and independent reviewing officers and an increased requirement for the virtual school to work with other local authority areas to secure school places, which can be challenging in many areas where school places are full.”
The report also notes that there is currently a shortfall between the funding local government receives for its work with refugees and the actual costs of caring for unaccompanied children.