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 how best to provide meaningful employment opportunities for the people displaced from Ukraine and other parts of the world who find a home here in the UK.
Considerable progress has been made to clarify regulatory requirements and right to work entitlement. During Refugee week, we are proud to launch the Care and Housing Employers Together for Refugees resource hub consisting of a wide range of useful information and links relating to safe and fair recruitment. The resource hub is available on the NCF website and includes helpful information on pastoral support for refugees.
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.”
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Note to Editors:
- The National Care Forum brings together 160 of the UK’s leading social care organisations, representing large numbers of care providers, offering thousands of services across the country, which are not for profit and always at the heart of community provision. Collectively, these organisations deliver more than £2.2 billion of social care and support to more than 217,000 people in 8,300 settings. The NCF membership body collectively employs more than 117,000 staff and 14,000 volunteers.
- More information is available on the National Care Forum at www.nationalcareforum.org.uk. @NCFCareForum @vicrayner @NCF_Liz
- For enquiries, please contact Edna Petzen edna.petzen@nationalcareforum.org.uk
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