Match-Making

The next step involves the Home Office sending you quite detailed and personal information about a family they believe to be suitable. This information goes only to a couple of senior members of the group - you can nominate who they are, but it usually is the Chair and the DSL - via a secure portal system called MOVE It.

The full details of the history, including potentially quite sensitive health issues, should not be shared more widely - certainly not in writing. But the Chair and DSL will need to share verbally as much information as is needed for the wider Group to make up its mind as to whether to accept the referral. 

Accessing MOVEIt

1. The Home Office will ask you to complete a MOVEIt Access form. You will need to give the names and email addresses of the 2 people from the group who you want to access the family's files.
2. Complete the form. The email addresses provided must be private and personal (e.g. they may not accept a generic email such as [email protected], which is accessed by multiple people)
3. Email form to [email protected]. Cc. your Lead Sponsor, and all named people on the form
4. Each person must reply to this email, to confirm that it is their correct email address.
5. You will receive instructions for how to access MOVEIt.
6. This is the difficult bit - You can only access MOVEIt on a secured, password protected computer which is not used by anyone else, and it cannot be a personal device. This could include:

• Your work laptop, which is secure and not accessed by anyone else (e.g. a school laptop, which has password protection)
• Your Lead Sponsor's work laptop
• Your Local Authority rep's work laptop

7. Delete downloaded files from your computer once you have read them

Making Big Decisions 

Making this decision is one of the hardest things a Group has to do. It can be emotionally draining, particularly if you decide that, for whatever reason, you do not think the family would be suitable. Previous Groups have described this stage as 'playing God'.

But remember, a Community Sponsorship is not just about evacuating a refugee family from one place to a safer one. You also have to consider how well the refugee family will do in their new home - their chances of integrating well and living independently. So the Group should consider the following factors: 

1. Is the area really suitable for the referred family?  
2. Are the needs of the family something the Group can cope with? (For example, if the family has complex mental health needs, will your volunteers be able to handle that, particularly if statutory services may be inadequate in your area?) 
3. What about the longer term integration of the family? (For example, if you are in a high cost area where living long-term on benefits is challenging, you might need to welcome a family with a good chance of the adults bring able to find decent employment within a year or so.)
4. Would you be able to find a suitable property in your area?

The Local Authority will also be given details of the family, and asked to complete a similar assessment. They have the opportunity to decline the match, if there are not suitable access to services to meet their needs.

What Happens If You Decline A Referred Family?

Should your Group feel that it couldn't cope with the referred family or that the family would struggle in your area, then you really should decline the match. It is a tough thing to do, but best in the long run.

But remember, by declining to accept a referred family you are not knocking them off the list for resettlement or pushing them to the back of the queue. The Home Office will be seeking an alternative arrangement for this family who will never know you declined.

The Home Office is very understanding in these situations and will immediately move to find another suitable match. There might be some time lag, but it usually isn't more than a few days. 

It's A Match! 

Hopefully - and usually - the first referral is a good match, in which case you can indicate that via email or a phone call to the Home Office. Then you can begin preparing for Stage Two of the planning process!

Finally... Confidentiality

You will have been given some very sensitive files about the family. It is important to have clear guidelines about what information you share to group members, and beyond the group. We have prepared some template guidelines below - If we are your Lead Sponsor, we expect you to follow these.