2nd International Conference of the ISCI, November 2009, Sydney, Australia

Immigrant Children and Child Welfare in the USA: Demographics,

Research, Policy, Legislation and Practice

Impacting Public Services

Presented by:Sonia C. Velazquez

Outline

• Background and salient problems • Seminal papers and launch of initiative: Policy Roundtable• Birth of a coalition: Migration and Child Welfare National Network• Resulting strategy and accomplishments – 2006 to date:

• research and findings • policy changes• embedding practice tools and models • advocacy efforts• transnational initiatives

• Sustainability: American Humane Association, Annie E Casey Foundation, and a dozen other partners who contribute in-kind support and a variety of resources to cause social change

Loss of Child Protection?

Children not accessing services Children not eligible or perceived not eligible Children horrendously impacted by immigration raids Inhumane treatment of families at deportationFrequent loss of child identity and culture when removedCriminalizing immigrant youth by “gang” activity and immediate deportationLoss of family connectionsEffects of linguistic isolation of family on childrenPossible immigration reliefs seldom exercised for the child

Loss of Ability to Protect?

Lack of awareness, skills, and knowledge by child welfare agencies and workers on immigration issues Absence of emerging practices and practice models that could strengthen immigrant familiesIs the immigration status of a child in care considered when determining a case plan? To what extent do child welfare and immigration professionals collaborate?Does child welfare participate in services for unaccompanied children and refugees?Transnational resources that remain untappedUnawareness / non-compliance with international conventions

Migration: A Critical issue for Child Welfare* (seminal paper)

• Social work with children and families in America inextricably linked with the history of immigration to the United States

• At the end of the 19th century, concerns on child well being were focused on poor European immigrants

• Are the “American Dream” values sustained by society nowadays?

• More than a century later, a second peak of immigration adds to the mix racial, cultural, language differences

• ¼ of all children and youth in the US either foreign born or foreign born parents

• Impact of migration and implications for child welfare

• Latino parenting styles and expectations of children* Velazquez, Vidal, Mindell 2006, Protecting Children, Volume 21, 2, 2006

Unauthorized immigrants

(11.1 million) 30%

Naturalized citizens (11.5 million) 31%

Legal permanent residents(LPR) (10.5 million) 28%

Legal temporary residents (1.3 million) 3%

Refugees (2.6 million) 7%

Demographics: Authorized and Unauthorized Immigrants and Refugees

*

37 million foreign-born in 2005 (Passel 2006)

Children of Natives

(57.9 Million)79%

U.S.-Born Children of

Immigrants (12.7 Million)

18%

Legal Immigrants (1 Million)

1%

Undocumented (1.8 Million)

2%

Naturalized (0.3 million)

0%

Nonimmigrants (0.1 Million)

0%

Demographics: Most Children of Immigrants are U.S. Born Citizens

73.9 Million Children in 2005 (March 2005 Population Survey)

Immigration Destination Categories

6 Main Destination States (67% of Immigrants in 2000

22 New Growth States (1990-2000 > 91%)

Top 10 Growth States 1990-2000 (135-274%)

Source: Randy Capps, Urban Institute, 2006

Migratory Trends: Immigrant Population Growth by Three Groups of Destination States

Level of Activity of State Legislation Related to Immigration and Immigrants in 2005-2009

Years and Number of Bills in the States

2005 300

2006 570

2007 1562

2008 1305

2009 1400+

Employment, Identification, Drivers License, Health and Education Benefits

Source: National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), 2009

Child Welfare and the Challenges of New Americans*

• Latino children continue to be the most uninsured racial and ethnic group in the United States

• Young children of immigrants are less likely to receive public benefits such as food stamps, temporary assistance, or child care

• Child welfare needs to consider linguistic and cultural factors , as well as legal, social welfare and civil and human rights.

* Velazquez, Earner, Lincroft, 2007, Children’s Voice, CWLA

Unique Challenges for Immigrant Families in the Child Welfare System*

“I came to this country to give my children a better life, but all theysee is someone who doesn’t speak English, who doesn’t know anything. They think we don’t care about our families. They took my daughter and did nothing to help me.”

“A caseworker who did not speak Chinese came to the house”, explains an immigrant mother. “I sent my daughter to talk to her; I thought she was a missionary. All my daughter said was that she would call meback. I later found out the school had reported me for abuse because I punished my daughter for misbehaving. No one ever explained whatwas going on to me, only to my daughter.”

* Interview with Velazquez, Lincroft, 2009, Voice Magazine, CFS

Immigration and Child Welfare Goals of Safety, Permanency, and Wellbeing

Research: population, needs, practices

Workforce and Training: Understanding well-being, acculturation, immigration, complexity of cases and workload, familiarity with policies, bicultural staff

Cross-System Collaboration: immigration law and child welfare, law enforcement and child protection, mental health and educational needs, family supports, and collaboration across countries

Policy and Advocacy: unable to safely maintain children in their homes, threats to permanency, families afraid of accessing benefits

* Dettlaff, Vidal, Velazquez, Mindell, Bruce, Child Welfare, 2009, CWLA

Emerging Issues at the Intersection of Immigration and Child Welfare: Results from a Transnational Research and Policy Forum* (paper # 2)

“Child welfare services should be available to all children regardless of immigration status”

“Federal, state, and local policies encourage full integration of immigrant families into US society

through an expanded delivery of child welfare services”

Velazquez, Protecting Children Journal, American Humane Association, Volume 22, 2, 2007

Statement by the Participants at the Migration: A Critical Issue for Child Welfare, 2006 Transnational Research and Policy Forum convened by the American Humane Association, Chicago, 2006

Nationally representative sample of children who were subjects of reports of maltreatment to child protective services agencies between 1999 and 2000

Children living in an in-home setting with a biological parent

• 64% children had a parent who was US-born• 36% children had a parent who was foreign-born• Latino children with a foreign-born parent comprise 5.2% of all

children involved with the child welfare system• Among Latino children of immigrants, 4 out of 5 are US-born.

Dettlaff, Earner, 2009, Research funded by American Humane Association

Children of Immigrants and Latino Children of Immigrants in the Child Welfare System: Findings from the National Survey of Child and

Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW)* (paper # 3)

Latino Children of ImmigrantsParent and Family Risk Factors

Risk Factors Native Caregiver Immigrant Caregiver

Alcohol use 11.3 12.9

Drug use 12.7 2.3

Mental health problem 7.1 5.4

Intellectual impairment 2.6 0.1

Poor parenting skills 26.0 17.4

Domestic violence 10.6 13.8

Excessive discipline 24.1 19.5

History of abuse 36.6 23.9

Difficulty meeting basic needs 25.6 13.6

History of arrest 5.5 1.9

High family stress 58.0 42.9

Dettlaff, Earner, 2009, Draft

Latino Children of ImmigrantsNeighborhood and Community Factors

Community Risk Factors Native Caregiver Immigrant Caregiver

Assaults/muggings 21.5 17.3

Gangs 34.9 32.7

Open Drug Use 34.9 24.3

Unsupervised children 42.8 27.8

Teenagers making a nuisance 38.7 19.0

Safe neighborhood 70.8 82.6

Helpful neighbors 58.2 79.8

Involved parents 60.4 56.0

Dettlaff, Earner, 2009, Draft

Implications of Findings

Detlaff, Earner, 2009, Draft

• Assessment of strengths and protective factors• Elements that facilitate service delivery• Natural networks of care• Importance of assessing risk factors• Impact of immigration and acculturation• How public policies affect ability to function

Practice Laboratory* (paper # 4)A Learning Laboratory: Practice Informs Research (paper # 4)

Velazquez, Detlaff, Flores, Bruce, 2009, (Phase I)

• Brief literature review and environmental scan of resources

• Focus on existing and established practices and services (not intended to address immigrants’ needs but delivered in areas of high immigrant concentration) – border areas

• Desing of questionnaires, IRB, Spanish translation• Key informant interviews and focus groups of families,

youth, workers, supervisors, administrators• Analysis of data beginning• (future) case reviews

Project Approach and Activities to Date

• Assist the agency in the identification of the population to better serve them

• Identify community supports and referrals (especially prevention and ongoing services)

• Provide cross-agency training, clarify roles, and clarify and disseminate policies and procedures for working with immigrant families

• Provide training that assists working in multi-cultural settings.

Preliminary Recommendations from Learning Laboratory

• CalWorks and Child Only Cases: Non-Qualified Immigrants – family outcomes

• Children who received Special Immigrant Juvenile Status in California

• Level of knowledge and attitudes of child welfare administrators on immigration issues

Other Planned - Sponsored - Research Projects

A Social Worker’s Toolkit for Working with Immigrant Families

Vital documents for immigrant children in the child welfare system

Communication between child welfare and immigration legal counsel

Screening questions to determine potential avenues for legal status

Summary of immigration relief options for youth in dependency proceedings

Glossary of immigration terms

A child welfare flowchart to work with immigration professionals

A Social Worker’s Toolkit for Working with Immigrant Families*

Lincroft, Borelli, 2009, Family to Family, AECF, 2009

• Numerous actions to support bills that impact immigrant children at state level

• Coalition (MCWNN) established coordination with Department of Homeland Security

• Invited to DHS workgroups• New funding award to one of the members for

repatriation services• MCWNN’s Position on U.S. Repatriation of

Unaccompanied Immigrant Children• Coordination with Office of Refugee Resettlement and

DUCS (Department of Unnaccompanied Children Services)

Some Activities at State and Federal Policy Level

A Social Worker’s Toolkit for Working with Immigrant Families

• Magnitude of the problems and gaps at the intersection• How it impacts children and services to children: child welfare and also

education, health, parenting, language• Multidisciplinary national coalition• Main stream organizations• Protection and humane treatment to immigrant, refugees, unaccompanied

children and families• Immigration reliefs for children should not come at the cost of family

connections• Best interest of the child: example - reunification inside or outside the US• Immigration polarization: Far from being resolved

Conclusions to Date - Key Aspects – Effective Strategies

JORGE BUSTAMANTE, SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF IMMIGRANTS.

REPORT PRESENTED TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED NATIONS

OCTOBER 27, 2009

‘The lack of specific provisions on children in most migration laws, and the failure to take into account the specific condition and needs of migrant children in public policies only exacerbates these problems for child migrants and leaves them exposed to further abuses’

Contact Information:

Sonia C. VelazquezVice President, Children’s DivisionAmerican Humane Associationsoniav@americanhumane.org

www.americanhumane.org/migration