STUDY OF CHILDREN JOINING FAMILY IN ENGLAND UNDER THE DUBLIN III REGULATION

The Dublin III Regulation is a long-standing mechanism between EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein ("Dublin States") to determine responsibility for examining asylum claims. The aim of the research is to develop a clear picture of the experience, needs and outcomes of children that have been transferred to England to date to join family or relatives, and for a comprehensive understanding of the challenges facing local authorities supporting them. The evaluation will: • Provide a full quantitative picture of the arrangements and outcomes of all children transferred under Dublin III; • Understand, and provide evidence of, how a range of children and their families in different circumstances have experienced this; • Provide an understanding, and evidence, of the needs of children and their families, and the support they have received; • Assess what aspects of the local authority (or LA facilitated) interventions are key in supporting children to remain with families, where this is the most desirable outcome; • Provide an evidence-based analysis of the factors causing arrangements to breakdown; and how they can be prevented; • Use the qualitative evidence to consider what the key challenges are for local authorities as facilitators of these arrangements.

The study shall employ a multi-method approach to collect four main types of data and assess a set of inter-related data with the following elements: i. Phase one: Feasibility study to understand the type and quality of information held by local authorities about children settling in the UK under the Dublin III Regulation; ii. Phase two: Quantitative data collection from local authorities to build an up to date picture of the children that have been transferred to England since January 2016 to deepen our understanding of this cohort of children; iii. Phase three: Qualitative case studies with local authorities to gain an in-depth, evidence-based understanding of the experiences of local authorities of receiving Dublin children and in engaging with children and families to support positive outcomes; iv. Phase four: Qualitative research with children and families to provide an in-depth understanding of their experience of joining family in England; the interventions or support they received, how they experienced that support and understand the outcomes.