Family Unification Assessment Project
CFAB can provide Social Work assessments to assist asylum and family unification applications involving minors’ to the Home Office. A qualified Social Worker will complete a Best Interest Assessment or a Family Assessment. This is exclusively for sponsors already living in the UK and want to unite with a family member who is a minor in Europe or beyond. These are charged at Legal Aid rates.
Referrals take the form of a Letter of Instruction from a solicitor accompanied by relevant documents such as witness statement, psychological assessment, country profile, etc.
To find out more, please email info@cfab.org.uk.
Family Reunification Service
Our Family Reunification Service provides advice and practical and emotional guidance for refugee children and young people arriving in the UK to live with extended family.
- Since 2019, we have supported refugees from countries including Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Eritrea, Iran and Kuwait.
- In 2024-2025, we supported 150 children and young people.
- 84% of young people have been supported in registering in school and have been able to continue their education.
- 93% of families were supported in accessing more appropriate housing.
Young refugees face many obstacles when arriving in the UK. Some may have not seen their family members for many years and some will have faced severe trauma and hardship along their journey prompting future mental health needs. While family members can be in a very good position to support these concerns, we recognise that it can also be overwhelming and confusing. Support, including knowledge and access to services is vital for families through these difficult times.
Since this project was launched in 2019, we have supported young people to access education and NHS mental health services; we have signposted families to legal advice and representation, as well as identifying local social support and activities. We have also successfully advocated and enabled families to apply for benefits and appropriate housing.
We are proud to be working in collaboration with charities such as Safe Passage and Refugee Action on this project. We accept referrals from charity partners and members of the public. Please be aware that we are a small team and we prioritise cases according to need. We may operate a waiting list in busy periods.
CFAB is grateful to The Henry Smith Charity and The Dulverton Trust who have supported the project from its inception and continue to fund this vital work.
Find out more about CFAB’s Casework services >
For more information on the services we offer, please read our Service Brochure.
Life Story Work
CFAB’s Life Story Work Service is specifically designed to support Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) and young people across the UK.
For UASC, the journey to a new country often involves immense challenges, trauma, and loss. Many arrive with fragmented memories, little understanding of their past, and a deep desperate need to make sense of their experiences. Our Life Story Work Service offers a vital pathway for these vulnerable young people to trauma-recovery/ healing, understand their identity, and build a sense of belonging.
A Life Story Work Practitioner at CFAB creates a safe, compassionate, and culturally-sensitive space to work with each child or young person to help them piece together their journey. We help them to understand the timeline of their lives, their origins, their perilous journey, and their arrival in the UK. We support them to process trauma and loss by addressing the difficult emotions associated with separation, displacement, grief, confusion, abuse and their past experiences in a supportive environment, form a coherent narrative by helping them build a personal story that connects their past, present, and hopes for the future. We work with them to develop a strong sense of identity by supporting them in understanding who they are, where they come from, and where they belong and strengthen connections with their current and future caregivers and support networks.
We work collaboratively with families, carers, and other professionals to ensure integrated care. Every session is tailored to the individual child's needs, pace, and developmental stage. Through creative activities such as games, memory work, etc and sensitive dialogue, we empower these young people to reclaim their narratives, have a sense or worth and look towards a more settled future.
Thank you to all those who have made this work possible, namely the Educational Opportunity Foundation, Michael Cornish Charitable Trust, Alchemy Foundation, Simon Gibson Charitable Trust, Family for Every Child, British and Foreign Schools Society and The Casey Trust.
If you are a local authority, social worker, or professional working with UASC, and you believe a child or young person would benefit from this specialized support, please email refugee.families@cfab.org.uk or call our Advice Line for further information.
Life story work resources to support refugee and asylum-seeking children and young people
We have worked in partnership with Blue Cabin and Therapeutic Life Story Work International to create a family of new resources to support life story work withrefugee and asylum-seeking children and young people.
They’re designed to provide guidance in an area where very little is currently available. And ultimately, to help ensure that more refugee, asylum-seeking and unaccompanied children and young people benefit from high quality, trauma-informed life story work.
The three resources are:
1) An animation for young people, explaining what life story work is.
2) A toolkit for practitioners, including life story workers and social workers.
3) A guide for interpreters who are involved in supporting the delivery of life story work.
All the resources are free and available for anyone to access, using the links below.
Animation for young people
This three-minute animation is designed to be watched by young people who have recently arrived in the UK as refugees or asylum-seekers. It explains what life story work is, and how it could benefit them.
The animation is available in English, Arabic, Dari and Tigrinya.
All four versions of the animation can be accessed here:
English: What is life story work?
Tigrinya: What is life story work?
Dari: What is life story work?
Arabic: What is life story work?
Toolkit for practitioners
This toolkit is for life story workers and social workers who facilitate life story work for children and young people who are newly arrived in the UK.
It includes guidance on preparing for life story work with children and young people who are recently arrived in the UK, working with interpreters, building trust and taking an asset-based approach, trauma-informed practice, and examples of games which can be incorporated into life story work.
Guide for interpreters
This guide is for any interpreter who is involved in life story work for children and young people who are newly arrived in the UK.
It includes an introduction to life story work and what to expect in sessions, the interpreter’s role in life story work, and guidance on building trust and taking an asset-based approach.
We kindly thank the Segelman Trust, who funded the project, and Kazzum Arts, who produced the animated video, as well as our partners Blue Cabin and Therapeutic Life Story Work International.
Preview:
