This website brings together research carried out since 2010 by our team at University of Stirling about the experiences of separated asylum-seeking children and young people, including those who have been trafficked.

We are really grateful to the many, many people who have contributed to these research projects – children and young people, practitioners, caregivers and policymakers. In particular, the Young People’s Voices Group, along with colleagues from Guardianship Scotland, Glasgow City Council (HSCP) and Perth & Kinross Council, have helped us to develop this website – so a big thank you from all of us.

Following a Home Office policy change, all local authorities in Scotland are now responsible for a proportion of separated children. While our research evidences many of the positive changes in support for separated children and young people
over the past 15 years, we also know that many agencies have had to set up or expand services at pace, in the context of an explicitly hostile environment for anyone seeking sanctuary in the UK. The aim of this website is to make sure that
this unique body of Scotland-specific research is freely available, to help support
good practice and policy development at local and national levels.