Integration of Unaccompanied Migrant Youth in the United States: A Call for Research

Overview

Journal J Ethn Migr Stud

Date 2019 Feb 16

PMID 30766444

Citations 10

Authors

Jodi Berger Cardoso

Kalina Brabeck

Dennis Stinchcomb

Lauren Heidbrink

Olga Acosta Price

Oscar F Gil-Garcia

Thomas M Crea

Luis H Zayas

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Between October 2013 and July 2016, over 156,000 children traveling without their guardians were apprehended at the US-Mexico border and transferred to the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). During that same period, ORR placed over 123,000 unaccompanied migrant youth-predominantly from Central America-with a parent or other adult sponsor residing in the US. Following placement, local communities are tasked with integrating migrant youth, many of whom experience pre- and in-transit migration traumas, family separation, limited/interrupted schooling, and unauthorised legal status, placing them at heightened risk for psychological distress, academic disengagement, maltreatment, and human trafficking. Nonetheless, fewer than 10% of young people receive formal post-release services. This paper addresses the paucity of research on the experiences of the 90% of children and youth without access to post-release services. To bridge this gap, this article: (a) describes the post-release experiences of unaccompanied youth, focusing on legal, family, health, and educational contexts; (b) identifies methodological and ethical challenges and solutions in conducting research with this population of young people and their families; and (c) proposes research to identify structural challenges to the provision of services and to inform best practices in support of unaccompanied youth.

Citing Articles

Traumatic Stress in Children and Youth Crossing the U.S. Mexico Border.

Nair S, McPherson P, Pumariega A Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2024; 26(12):798-806.

PMID: 39614961 DOI: 10.1007/s11920-024-01566-5.

Persistence of Emotional Distress in Unaccompanied Migrant Children and Adolescents Primarily From the Northern Triangle of Central America.

Vega Potler N, Zhang J, Hackley B, Choi J, Xie X, Punsky B JAMA Netw Open. 2023; 6(6):e2318977.

PMID: 37338902 PMC: 10282890. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.18977.

Experiences of Undocumented Parents Reuniting with Children Who Entered the United States as Unaccompanied Minors.

Rafieifar M, Potocky M, Huang H, Beaulaurier R, Bruan Lorenzini S Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023; 20(5).

PMID: 36901505 PMC: 10002079. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20054496.

Unaccompanied Immigrant Children in ORR Foster Care: Community Level Facilitators of Adjustment Identified by Service Providers.

Evans K, Hasson 3rd R, Teixeira S, Fitchett V, Crea T Child Adolesc Social Work J. 2022; :1-14.

PMID: 35874463 PMC: 9288734. DOI: 10.1007/s10560-022-00842-8.

Household composition after resettlement and emotional health in adolescent migrants.

Orjuela-Grimm M, Marti-Castaner M, Bhatt-Carreno S, Castro M, Restrepo Henao A, Pinilla H J Migr Health. 2022; 5:100103.

PMID: 35493420 PMC: 9046643. DOI: 10.1016/j.jmh.2022.100103.

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