Since the start of the Ukraine crisis, the National Care Forum (NCF) – the leading association of not for profit care and support providers – has worked with the Care Provider Alliance (CPA) and a wide range of partners to understand band other parts of the world who find a home here in the UK. This includes expertise from across national and local government, housing, recruitment specialists, legal and immigration experts and regulators.
Considerable progress has been made to clarify regulatory requirements and right to work entitlement. The Care and Housing Employers Together for Refugees resource hub on the offers a wide range of useful information and links relating to safe and fair recruitment. This resource hub is available on the NCF website and includes a pastoral care guide, developed with the support of the LGA, to help social care employers explore resettlement support and pastoral care for overseas recruits, including refugees and/or displaced people who are settled in the UK with the right to work.
NCF also have an International Recruitment Page on their website that features information about the MAC and shortage occupation list.
In addition, a Care and Support Jobs Board has been built in partnership with Cohesion Recruitment, which is free of charge for any care provider or housing employer to advertise their vacancies for Ukrainian refugees and other displaced people. The Jobs Board links to an interactive map that signposts people to local support including diaspora support groups and organisations working with UK refugees.
Care and housing employers are already using the guidance and resources so that, as ethical employers, they can follow best practice in recruitment of refugees in social care.
Kimberley Devlin, Executive Director of Operations at Tricuro said:
“The Care and Housing Employers Together for Refugees project has helped us in our experience of exploring how we could employ and support people from Ukraine and other countries, as well as with overseas sponsorships. The NCF has helped us to navigate where to get the information to allow us to actually reach out and help those people that need our support and to make sure that all involved are safeguarded and that our practice is fair and safe.”
Professor Vic Rayner OBE, CEO of the NCF said:
“Like many people affected by the plight of the people of Ukraine, care and housing employers are pulling together to take action to help. The Care and Housing Employers Together for Refugees resource hub is the first step to making sure the right information and resources is available to social care providers looking to employ refugees safely and with the right support in place. We want to ensure that all those who seek to take up employment in the care and housing sector are not at risk of trafficking and exploitation. NCF and Skills for Care in partnership with Hestia, a leading provider of support for victims of modern slavery, are offering Modern Slavery Awareness training for frontline managerial or HR professionals in adult social care to help people spot the signs and take appropriate action to prevent such inhumane practices taking place within the sector.”
