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Services
Services A - Z
The following index is thought to provide a brief overview about our work and services following important topics in alphabetical order:
[A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z]
ADDED VALUE
We believe that the specific knowledge and experience of ISS UK Branch members of staff will be of benefit to your agency's task. Hence, co-operating with locally qualified and experienced social workers or equally trained staff means added value of our services in that our partner agencies are able to comment on issues like culture, religion, law, resources, etc. in the country and area concerned.
ADDRESSES
It is vital to have as many details as possible in order to locate the persons concerned abroad. Where street names and postcodes are less common, directions are very welcome (i.e. “opposite main post office”, “on National Route 3 after intersection with...”, or “the family owns the bakery shop in ...”). You may also enclose a map or chart in such cases.
ADVICE LINE
Please note that we are unable to accept any requests for service that have not been discussed with an advisor before. In most cases we will be able to advise you right away whether the service you request can be obtained in the country concerned. In a few cases we may need to inquire with the relevant branch or correspondent or our General Secretariat whether service delivery is possible.
AIM & PURPOSE OF ISS UK
ISS UK is a voluntary organisation, staffed by qualified intercountry social workers, linking social services around the world. We have a General Secretariat in Geneva and well-established links to partner agencies in over 150 countries. ISS exists to help individuals, families, and professionals with problems requiring social work intervention in more than one country.
ALLOCATION
Cases are allocated to an Intercountry Social Worker on a weekly basis. Once a case has been accepted the referring agency will be notified in writing about the case manager's details responsible for your case.
BRANCHES, AFFILIATED BUREAUX, AND CORRESPONDENTS
ISS operates a network of branches, affiliated bureaux, and correspondents in over 150 countries worldwide. Each branch, affiliated bureaux, and correspondent is recognised and approved by our General Secretariat in Geneva.
CASE SUMMARY FORMAT
You will find a framework for the case summary format in our referral guide and it would be appreciated if you could use this layout. However, it is not intended to exclude other valuable and relevant information. Your case summary should usually not exceed three A4 pages. To avoid misunderstandings and confusion, we prefer typed or word-processed referrals. The background information should follow a chronological order but we are not able to accept full case chronologies prepared for other purposes.
CHARGES & FEES
Since the introduction of the Quality Protects Scheme, central government has ceased general funding of ISS UK. Therefore, we have to recover our costs by charging for services. If service is cancelled or unobtainable, a partial refund up to 50% may be considered.
CHILD PROTECTION NOTIFICATIONS
Generally ISS UK is able to notify relevant authorities in other countries about children, whose names are placed on local Child Protection Registers in the UK and who have been taken overseas. However, there is no international or multilateral database, which could be utilised for this purpose. Furthermore, child protection registers are hardly known elsewhere. Subsequently, each case needs to be referred individually to our partner agency in the country concerned. For this reason it is necessary to provide a fair amount of background information to our colleagues overseas as well as details about potential risks to the children concerned.
CHILDREN'S RIGHTS
ISS is committed to the principles set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. We would like to encourage all practitioners to include the child's wishes and feelings if submitting a service request to be passed on to relevant agencies overseas if this is possible. In cases of family dispute our main focus has to be the best interests of the child.
COMPLAINTS PROCEDURES
If you should be dissatisfied with our service we would like to encourage you to discuss these matters with the member of staff directly. However, if you should feel that this does not resolve the problem, please ask for the ISS UK Complaints Procedures.
CONFIDENTIALITY AND DATA PROTECTION
Please note that we have no control about who is contacted in the respective country and what our correspondents overseas disclose to individuals and their partner agencies. For this reason, please indicate clearly if you have concerns in regard to confidentiality when speaking to the advisor on the phone. Generally, individuals have the right to access information held about them by our office. If you do not wish your documents to be seen by an individual concerned, please indicate this clearly and also provide reasons for this. For further information please ask for the ISS UK Confidentiality and Data Protection Policy.
CONTACT ISS UK
Due to different laws in different countries and varying resources of our partner agencies, we are unable to accept any requests for service that have not been discussed with an advisor before. In most cases we will be able to advise you right away whether the service you request can be obtained in the country concerned. In a few cases we may need to inquire with the relevant branch or correspondent or our General Secretariat whether service delivery is possible. Please contact our advice line free of charge Monday to Thursday, 14:00 to 16:30 and 10:00 to 12:30 on a Friday. To access our advice line service please call 0207 735 8941. Alternatively, you may send your inquiry via facsimile (0207 582 0696). Please do not forget to include your contact details. An advisor will then get back to you. If you should inquire about a matter already known to us, it is very helpful if you quote our reference.
Once a case has been allocated to an Intercountry Social Worker and been given a specific reference number you can contact the case manager Monday to Friday between 10:00 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 17:00 using our contact details mentioned below.
COURT DATES
Please state any known court dates or other cut-off dates clearly on the professional contact sheet.
DIRECT CONTACT
We have to insist that you inform the case manager if any professional involved is considering visiting or making direct contact with the other country after you have requested service via ISS UK Branch since this may undermine the work of our colleagues and may jeopardise the future handling of your case by ISS.
DOCUMENTATION
Bundles of court documents, photocopied reports, or case chronologies compiled for other purposes are not appropriate and will be returned. However, submission of documents other than the case summary should be discussed with the advisor when making initial contact in each case. A family tree or genogram has often proofed helpful, especially in rather complex cases.
JARGON
As the referral might need to be translated, the language used should be simple and free of jargon or concepts unlikely to be understood in another culture and welfare system.
LEGAL ADVICE
Although ISS UK Branch does not provide legal advice, ISS branches and correspondents in a number of countries do employ lawyers who can be asked for their expertise on particular issues in their countries on request.
PERSONAL DETAILS
Very often in international cases, information regarding nationality and immigration status of the persons concerned, as well as cultural, religious, political, or other issues are of high relevance. Therefore, we rely on the co-operation of our service users to establish these personal details in order to be able to provide a high quality service.
QUALITY OF SERVICE
It has to be born in mind that concepts and practices of social work vary around the world and do not necessarily conform with the standards expected in the United Kingdom. If you should have any queries about a particular country please ask the advisor for details.
REFERRALS
Referrals can only be accepted in writing (hardcopy) containing a case summary, and a completed professional contact sheet unless otherwise agreed. Templates of both documents will be sent to you together with our referral guide after discussing a particular case with an advisor.
REGISTRATION SCHEME
Since 5 January 2004 ISS UK operates a Registration Scheme, which provides for enhanced services for registered users. The advisor will be aware of whether your organisation is a registered user. Registered users are offered discounted charges as well as priority advice line service. Please contact us if you require further information on the Registration Scheme.
SOCIAL SERVICES AND POLICE RECORDS CHECKS
We are able to offer police and social services record checks in a number of countries. For information on countries where this is possible please ask the advisor. However, in all cases the consent of the person concerned has to be provided in the form of her or his signature on the respective Consent Form.
STATISTICS
To monitor demand and the quality of our service you will be asked some questions when talking to the advisor. Also, after you have received services from ISS UK, we may contact you to monitor and evaluate the quality of our service. We will use this data only for internal purposes in order to improve services where possible and would appreciate your co-operation in this regard very much.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE
Our Terms and Conditions of Service have been sent to all registered users. If you should require a copy, please contact us. ISS UK reserves the right to change its Terms and Conditions of Service without prior notice.
TIMEFRAMES
Please make an early referral while situations are still fluid and options open. In some cases it may take some considerable time to obtain the service you request from abroad. We do understand that most social workers need the service delivered as soon as possible. However, we are unable to provide you with precise dates since there are many factors beyond our control that may impact on service delivery. In some countries infrastructure is poor and especially remote areas are hard to reach. In other countries time consuming bureaucratic procedures apply. Also, any service requested relies on the co-operation of the individuals concerned. Any expectation in regard to the requested service has to be realistic. The advisor will try to give you a rough estimate on the estimated timeframe based on the experience of similar previous cases for your enquiry.
Whilst we wholehearted agree to the statement of Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss in the foreword of the Protocol for Judicial Case Management in Public Law Children Act Cases, we have to realise that the reality in terms of applicable timescales with the relevant authorities in some countries means that the objectives cannot be met. For this reason ISS UK should be involved from the very early stages of any applicable case. However, even then it will not always be possible to meet the Pre Hearing requirements.
TRACING
While it is possible to offer tracing services in some countries, in most cases we require sufficient information to commence a search. The advisor will be able to tell you about limits in tracing persons abroad (please see also ADDRESSES section).
TRANSLATIONS
In countries where English is not an official language, service requests and other documents might have to be translated before being passed on to our partner agencies. ISS UK uses qualified and recognised interpretation services. The applicable charges have to be covered by the referring agency.