Conducting a social worker unreasonable to live at home (UTLAH) assessment 003-12030010

Services Australia has a zero tolerance approach to child abuse.

A staff member must take immediate action when they see or hear behaviour, which raises concern about a child or young person's safety. Follow the agency's Risk Identification and Reporting model when identifying and responding to child safety concerns. See Risk identification and management of threats to the safety or welfare of a child.

A customer:

• receiving or claiming ABSTUDY, Youth Allowance (YA) or Disability Support Pension (DSP) may be considered independent under the UTLAH category
• claiming Special Benefit (SpB) may be considered a homeless person for SpB qualification if they meet UTLAH criteria
• may be exempt from providing parental income for Tertiary Access Payment (TAP) if their circumstances meet UTLAH provisions

Criteria for UTLAH eligibility include that the young person is:

• not receiving continuous financial or other support, directly or indirectly, from their parent(s) or guardian(s)
• not receiving payments in the nature of income support (other than a social security benefit) on a continuous basis from a commonwealth, state or territory government, and
• unable to live at the home of either or both parents because:
• of extreme family breakdown or other similar exceptional circumstances
• living at home would cause a serious risk to the customer's physical or mental well-being due to family and domestic violence, child abuse, sexual abuse, neglect or other similar unreasonable circumstances, or
• their parents are not able to provide a suitable home for the customer due to a lack of stable accommodation

A customer aged under 18 years must be referred to a Services Australia social worker. They will make the decision about UTLAH eligibility.

Note: a new UTLAH assessment is not required if there is no change to the young person's circumstances, and they were receiving a payment with UTLAH independence status, in the 52 weeks before a new payment claim.

When conducting an UTLAH assessment the Services Australia social worker will:

• conduct a file assessment
• interview the customer
• in most cases interview one or both of the customer's parents
• interview or consider written information from a third party, and
• record all details in a Social Work Information System (SWIS) report

The social worker will also:

• assess potential risk of harm to the young person or others, such as siblings
• assess the young person's support needs and ability to live independently
• refer the young person to appropriate internal and external support services

• Social workers are responsible for undertaking UTLAH assessments for customers under 18 years
• Experienced Service Officers in the Over 18 UTLAH Assessment Team (O18) are responsible for assessments for customers aged 18 years and over

Some social workers provide support to the O18 team, through case consultation.

A social worker may get approval to undertake a UTLAH assessment for a young person aged 18 years or older if:

• there are extenuating circumstances, and
• the young person is experiencing complex vulnerability

For more information, refer to Resources, 18 years or older UTLAH assessments - FAQs for social workers.

Note: unsupported young people 18 years and older, whose UTLAH assessment is being undertaken by the O18 team, can still be referred to a social worker for crisis support and/or short term social casework. See Social work service referral.

For UTLAH, a parent is defined as one of the following:

• a natural (biological) parent
• a legally adoptive parent. Also see Traditional child rearing practices of Torres Strait Islander people
• a relationship parent. See the Resources page for an explanation of 'relationship parent'

A guardian is not considered a parent for the purposes of determining if it is unreasonable to live at home with a young person's parent(s).

For a UTLAH assessment, establishing if a person is a guardian, or suitable adult with substantial care of a young person, is only relevant:

• for determining if the customer is receiving continuous financial or other support from a parent, or another person who is acting as their guardian on a long‑term basis, or
• if the young person is aged 15 years or under, claiming Special Benefit (SpB) and the social worker is considering if they are a 'dependent child' of a suitable adult, who they are substantially in the care of. If the adult has appropriate care of the child for FTB qualification, FTB may be the most suitable option, see Assisting a customer aged under 16

Social workers should consider all of the factors listed below:

• The duration of care - if the relationship between the young person and adult is long-standing
• The kind of care - if the young person is given constant care and attention, emotional and material support, as would be expected of a child's parents. If the young person is nurtured and treated as a member of the family, including attention given to welfare and education
• The degree of independence - if the young person has a high degree of independence and ability to manage their own affairs
• The nature of the relationship - if the relationship between the young person and adult is close and intimate, like that between a parent and child. A parent-child like relationship is often, but not necessarily, linked with duration of care

Notes:

• A young person living with a relative does not necessarily make the relative a guardian for continuous support, or suitable adult for SpB purposes. This is even if the young person refers to them as their guardian
• A person, who is not a parent, receiving Family Tax Benefit (FTB) for the young person is a cause for exploration, but does not necessarily indicate that the carer is a suitable adult who has substantial care of the young person

If a young person's parents are separated, circumstances about each of the parents must be assessed. For more details, see the Process page.

Social workers should conduct the interview with the young person within 5 working days of them notifying the agency of their change in circumstances, whenever possible. If the young person needs immediate social work support or is under 16 years of age, the social worker should make every effort to conduct an interview within 24 hours.

The social worker should:

• make every effort to complete all UTLAH assessments within 21 days of the interview with the young person, and sooner if possible
• manage an assessment as priority if:
• it is for a young person whose circumstances meet the criteria for an urgent UTLAH appointment, or
• the young person is aged 15 years or under

Parental contact must be attempted in all cases unless:

• the young person refuses permission
• there are verified circumstances of family and domestic violence, neglect or abuse. This includes all elements of family and domestic violence, including homophobia and transphobia
• contact with the parent presents a serious risk to the young person or others, such as siblings
• it has been verified that there has been no parental concern for 2 years or more

If the young person refuses to give permission for parent(s) to be contacted, and serious risk circumstances cannot be verified, it may mean UTLAH status cannot be granted.

In all cases, if a parent of a customer aged under 18 is not to be contacted because of issues of risk, or the young person has refused consent to contact, consultation with the Social Work Manager (EL2) must occur. This consultation must be documented in the UTLAH report.

Note: for customers 18 years or over, consultation is with the Social Work Support Managers (EL1) who support the Over 18 UTLAH Assessment Team.

Consultation with the Social Work Manager is not needed if:

• it has been identified that the young person does not meet base UTLAH eligibility. For example, the customer advises they are still living at home with a parent
• efforts to contact the parent have been made through the accepted processes, by phone and letter
• the parent is deceased
• there has been no contact for 2 years or more
• the parents are living together and one of the parents has been contacted, and the other parent is satisfied their input has been represented
• the young person is in state care, or
• the young person is 18 years of age or over and a Social Work Support Manager supporting the Over 18 UTLAH Assessment Team has been consulted

Consult with a Social Work Support Manager if uncertain.

Verification from an independent third party when assessing UTLAH eligibility for a customer aged under 18 years is needed in order to conduct a holistic assessment of the young person's circumstances.

Some UTLAH assessments may identify a need for follow-up support of the young person. The purpose of follow-up intervention is to make sure that young people experiencing vulnerability have early access to supports and services. The aim is to provide early, focused intervention with strategies that are tailored to the young person's individual development and life situation.

Follow-up support is usually provided by a social worker though short-term social casework. However, if the young person declines a referral for social casework, social worker should consider a future UTLAH wellbeing review.

All customers aged 15 years or under are deemed to need follow up. This is unless significant appropriate supports are already in place.

Social workers should also consider follow up for customers experiencing other vulnerable circumstances. These include (but are not limited to) young people with minimal existing supports and:

• warning signs of risk of harm, including family and domestic violence or financial abuse
• unstable or untreated mental health issues
• misuse of substances
• unstable or inappropriate accommodation
• offender behaviours
• unstable school attendance
• pregnant, or
• those who, with their families, have engaged in mediation/counselling

Staff must refer young people aged under 16 years, who do not live with a parent or guardian, to a social worker. The social worker will:

• assess their safety
• help with deciding payment eligibility, and
• offer support through social casework

Due to their age, young people under 16 years are particularly vulnerable. State and Territory Welfare Authorities have responsibility for providing care, protection and associated services to young people, under school leaving age, who are assessed as being at risk and homeless. The Commonwealth retains the discretion to provide income support to a homeless person less than the minimum school leaving age in exceptional circumstances.

If a young person has applied for an income support payment under UTLAH provisions, a full assessment will occur, including:

• the customer's current living situation, to make sure the young person is not at risk
• contact with parents/guardians as appropriate, and
• referral to the relevant State or Territory Welfare Authority, as appropriate

When a young person under 16 years has applied for Special Benefit (SpB), the social worker will also help decide:

• the adequacy of any support being provided by way of state care, if the young person indicates the support they are receiving is insufficient
• whether the young person is a dependent child of another adult who is providing ongoing care, who can apply for Family Tax Benefit (FTB)

Refer to Assisting a customer under 16. The social worker must make sure the reasons for their recommendations are outlined in the UTLAH report.

If a young person is aged 14 years or under regular consultations must occur between social workers and their EL1 Social Work Support Manager and EL2 Social Work Manager throughout the assessment. Social workers should make their EL2 Social Work Manager aware as soon as possible if they are referred a customer:

• 14 years or under, and
• who lodges an income support payment claim because they advise they are homeless or unsupported

Determination of whether a customer meets the eligibility criteria to be granted UTLAH independent status is an appealable decision if it has an operative effect on the customer. An operative decision is one that has been applied in the making of another decision about payment entitlement or rate.

If a young person notifies the agency they are independent due to it being unreasonable to live at home, a UTLAH eligibility decision should always be made, including if the customer:

• does not attend their social work UTLAH interview and the social worker cannot contact them. In these cases, the social worker will reject UTLAH due to insufficient information to determine if it is unreasonable for the young person to live at home
• declines to continue participating in a UTLAH assessment. Since assessment of UTLAH independence status eligibility is not a claim, there is no claim to withdraw. The social worker should still make a UTLAH determination using any information already provided. Note: do not contact parents or third party if this has not yet occurred and the young person withdraws their consent
• seems likely to be ineligible once the assessment has begun. The social worker should complete the UTLAH assessment, even if it becomes clear, after one or more interviews, that a young person will not meet eligibility criteria

When making an unfavourable decision, make 2 genuine attempts to contact the customer before finalising the decision. Tell the customer:

• about the decision
• they can provide more details or evidence relevant to the decision
• about their review and appeal rights, and record an application for a formal explanation of decision or review of the decision, if needed

If a young person queries or disagrees with a UTLAH eligibility decision explain their internal review options.