Migrant Help Monthly Update – October 2020
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MIGRANT HELP MONTHLY UPDATE – OCTOBER 2020 Reginald Update: Glasgow (Scotland) • We have continued to make sure that service users who enter the IA without mobile phones are provided with a mobile phone so that we can be able to carry our relevant support appointments with them in the hotels of their individual flat accommodations. • MH continues to deliver all relevant support services to service users over remotely over the phone. On exceptional circumstances we provide we can arrange appointment face to face support to vulnerable clients unable to access telephone services and emergency cases – maintaining appropriate social distancing and adherence to Scottish government public health advice. • We completed and looked forward to phased return to some face to face appointment in our IA office in October; however due to the recent new lockdown restrictions – we are again reviewing our approach and will keep service users and partner updated accordingly. • In addition to our normal initial accommodation (IA) telephone, Migrant Help have launched a new FREEPHONE for IA residents ONLY – to cater to their needs at no extra cost. The number is 0808 8010 314, open from the hours of (10am-13pm). Once a service user is dispersed to permanent accommodation, they will STOP using this number, and instead use our national helpline 0808 8010 503, open 24/7 for quality assistance. • We will continue to provide support through our Advice and Guidance sessions for all IA Service Users, over the phone (hinted above) and email; including our WhatsApp mobile number now for submission of documents ONLY. • We will continue to sign post service users to relevant specialist partner organisations for support and appreciate all the goodwill and partnership shown up to date by so many charities in these difficult times. • We continue to work closely with MEARS and Asylum Health Bridging Team to ensure that service users receive the support the need, and where necessary escalating cases to the Home Office for urgent action. FRC PROGRESS • The performance of the FRC team has remained within the KPI, although wait time has increased due to increased call volumes and also more challenging calls requiring more time. The team have adapted well to the challenges faced and spikes in demand. • New staff members joined the team this month and additional members will be joining in early October as well. • Mondays and Tuesdays continue to be very busy days for the FRC, however as with EAGL, the volumes have increased significantly through the week EAGL PROGRESS • The volume of calls coming through to EAGL have increased significantly through September. Changes have been made in response to the increased volumes to help us manage demand, however the call arrival patterns have been a challenge and less predictable and as a result the average wait time has unfortunately increased. • The nature of the calls over recent weeks have been a challenge with increased safeguarding cases and calls from disgruntled callers. The average call length has gone up as the team ensure that these calls are handled October 2020 update appropriately and that all bases are covered to ensure the client is safe and supported. Additional training is taking place over the coming weeks and months to further enable the team to confidently handle such calls. • The average wait time has taken a step backwards considering the improvements we have made this year, however we have not returned to our original waiting times and are reviewing the way we forecast and manage our operations to ensure we are able to adapt to the challenges and face these successfully. • Although the volumes coming in throughout the week are high, Mondays continue to be our busiest day. • Further recruitment is currently taking place with proposed start dates early October. • We continue to see high numbers of support application requests and are working through these quickly to ensure they are processed and submitted without delay for the Home Office to assess. • We continue to offer additional training and monitor the quality of advice being provided to ensure we are offering the best possible service. OUTREACH UPDATE • Our outreach service continues to support our vulnerable service users during the pandemic. • We are offering welfare calls to service users who are feeling isolated, suffer with mental health problems or are a victims of domestic violence. • We tailor the frequency of our welfare calls to suit the need of the service user. • We continue to offer assistance as outreach for asylum support or move on services where needed. • Our [email protected] inbox continues to be monitored and is up to date. • We welcome referrals to [email protected] for vulnerable service users who need extra support. We have 5 organisations who have signed our framework agreement and are ready to undertake work on our framework. • Harbour Project – who cover Swindon, • Cambridge Ethnic Community Forum – who cover Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Essex and Norfolk, • New Routes – who cover Norwich • CHAWREC – who cover Cheshire, Halton Runcorn and Warrington. • Wirral Change – who cover Wirral. We are not offering face to face commissioned outreach at present due to covid but are offering telephone ASF1 cases to our commissioned organisations during the pandemic. MOVE ON – NATIONAL UPDATE Positive Move On • We are working closely with the Home Office on the re-start of the move on process. We started assisting with discontinuations in England on the 12th of August. • We are waiting for clarification on when the discontinuations will start in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ire- land. • In the meantime our move on providers are keeping lines of communication open with the service users who they have assisted. • Our move on providers are advising service users the Home Office will contact them directly to notify them of when the discontinuation process has started. October 2020 update • Our designated positive move on escalation inbox [email protected] is up to date and ready to assist with any issues relating to positive move on. UPDATE ON WORKING WITH OUR SUBCONTRACTORS • All of our move on providers are making sure service users are aware they need to apply for universal credit but remind them that they should not use the universal credit and asylum support once received. • Our move on providers confirm to the service user they need to notify them once the first universal credit payment has been received so we can update the Home Office. • Our sub-contractors in Wales and Northern Ireland are prepared for when we receive confirmation on the restrictions being lifted. • Reed in Partnership are working with the SMPs and local authorities to ensure they keep housing protocols up to date to ensure they are aware of any changes to the housing referral pathway during the pandemic. FEEDBACK/SU EXPERIENCE UPDATE • New SU Experience Surveys are due to be published on our Self-Serve Portal from w/c 05/10/2020. The surveys have been translated into the top 10 languages plus Spanish and a number of promotional efforts have been put together to help increase engagement from our clients to gain their feedback and help us to improve. • Posters will be displayed in the IAs and circulated and the links will be sent after calls for the client to access the survey and provide feedback. • Despite performance for the teams taking a step backwards we are still receiving calls to express gratitude for all we have done which is great to see and really helps the team. October 2020 update .