Skip to main content
Log in

Immigrant Children and Child Welfare in the United States: Demographics, Legislation, Research, Policy, and Practice Impacting Public Services

  • Published:
Child Indicators Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This article summarizes the presentation given at the 2nd International Conference of the International Society for Child Indicators (ISCI) in November 2009, in Sydney, Australia. The intent of the paper is to build a framework of strategic advancement of child wellbeing of a subgroup of vulnerable children, utilizing national indicators from the variety of disciplines mentioned in the title. The paper discusses indicators that have been used to advance the knowledge development, research, policy, advocacy, and practice accomplishments of the Migration and Child Welfare National Network. This national initiative, under the leadership of the American Humane Association, represents a collaborative effort of more than a dozen national organizations, universities, state child welfare agencies, immigrant serving agencies, and child welfare and other professionals across the United States and other nations including Mexico and other Latin American countries whose children are impacted by the issues mentioned in this paper.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aldarondo, E., Kaufman, G. K., & Jasinski, J. (2002). A risk marker analysis of wife assault in Latino families. Violence Against Women, 8, 429–454.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ayón, C. (2009). Shorter time-lines, yet higher hurdles: Mexican families’ access to child welfare mandated services. Children and Youth Services Review, 31, 609–616.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bacallao, M. L., & Smokowski, P. R. (2007). The costs of getting ahead: Mexican family system changes after immigration. Family Relations, 56, 52–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrios, L., Suleiman, L., & Vidal de Haymes, M. (2004). Latino population trends and child welfare services: Reflections on policy, practice, and research from the Latino Consortium roundtable discussions. Illinois Child Welfare, 1, 106–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Belitz, J., & Valdez, D. (1997). A sociocultural context for understanding gang involvement among Mexican-American male youth. In J. G. Garcia & M. C. Zea (Eds.), Psychological interventions and research with Latino populations (pp. 56–72). Needham Heights: Allyn & Bacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Capps, R., & Fortuny, K. (2006). Immigration and child and family policy. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Capps, R., Fix, M., Ost, J., Reardon-Anderson, J., & Passel, J. (2004). The health and well-being of young children of immigrants. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Capps, R., Castaneda, R. M., Chaudry, A., & Santos, R. (2007). Paying the price: The impact of immigration raids on America’s children. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cervantes, W., & Lincroft, Y. (2010). The impact of immigration enforcement on child welfare. Washington, DC: First Focus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coltrane, S., Parke, R. D., & Adams, M. (2004). Complexity of father involvement in low-income Mexican American families. Family Relations, 53, 179–189.

    Google Scholar 

  • Committee for Hispanic Children and Families. (2003). Creating a Latino child welfare agenda: A strategic framework for change. New York: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cunradi, C. B., Caetano, R., & Schafer, J. (2002). Socioeconomic predictors of intimate partner violence among white, black, and Hispanic couples in the United States. Journal of Family Violence, 17, 377–389.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De La Rosa, M. (2002). Acculturation and Latino adolescents’ substance use: a research agenda for the future. Substance Use & Misuse, 37, 429–456.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dettlaff, A. J., & Cardoso, J. B. (2010). Mental health need and service use among Latino children of immigrants in the child welfare system. Children and Youth Services Review, 32, 1373–1379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dettlaff, A. J., & Rycraft, J. R. (2009). Culturally competent systems of care with Latino children and families. Child Welfare, 88(6), 109–126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dettlaff, A. J., & Earner, I. (2010). Children of immigrants in the child welfare system: Characteristics, risk, and maltreatment. Manuscript submitted for publication.

  • Dettlaff, A. J., & Lincroft, Y. (2010). Issues in evaluation and program planning with immigrant children and families in the child welfare system. Evaluation and Program Planning, 33, 278–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dettlaff, A. J., Earner, I., & Phillips, S. D. (2009a). Latino children of immigrants in the child welfare system: prevalence, characteristics, and risk. Children and Youth Services Review, 31, 775–783.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dettlaff, A. J., Vidal de Haymes, M., Velazquez, S., Mindell, R., & Bruce, L. (2009b). Emerging issues in the intersection of immigration and child welfare: results from a transnational research and policy forum. Child Welfare, 88(2), 47–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Douglas-Hall, A., & Koball, H. (2004). Children of recent immigrants: National and regional trends. New York: National Center for Children in Poverty.

    Google Scholar 

  • Earner, I. (2007). Immigrant families and public child welfare: Barriers to services and approaches to change. Child Welfare, 86(4), 63–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Falicov, C. J. (2005). Mexican families. In M. McGoldrick, J. Giordano, & N. Garcia-Preto (Eds.), Ethnicity and family therapy (3rd ed., pp. 229–241). New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. (2008). America’s children in brief: Key national indicators of wellbeing, 2008. Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fontes, L. A. (2002). Child discipline and physical abuse in immigrant Latino families: reducing violence and misunderstanding. Journal of Counseling and Development, 80, 31–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fortuny, K., Capps, R., Simms, M., & Chaudry, A. (2009). Children of immigrants: National and state characteristics. Retrieved from Urban Institute website: http://www.urban.org/publications/411939.html.

  • Garcia, A. (2009). Contextual pathways to Latino child welfare involvement: A theoretical model located in the intersections of place, culture, and socio-cultural factors. Children and Youth Services Review, 31, 1240–1250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hagan, J., Rodriguez, N., Capps, R., & Kabiri, N. (2003). The effects of recent welfare and immigration reforms on immigrants’ access to health care. International Migration Review, 37, 444–463.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hancock, T. U. (2005). Cultural competence in the assessment of poor Mexican families in the rural southeastern United States. Child Welfare, 84, 689–711.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hernandez, M., & McGoldrick, M. (1999). Migration and the family life cycle. In B. Carter & M. McGoldrick (Eds.), The expanded family life cycle: individual, family, and social perspectives (3rd ed., pp. 169–184). Needham Heights: Allyn & Bacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holleran, L. K., & Waller, M. A. (2003). Sources of resilience among Chicano/a youth: forging identities in the borderlands. Child and Adolescent Social Work, 20, 335–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jennissen, R. (2007). Causality chains in the international migration systems approach. Population Research and Policy Review, 26, 411–436.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lincroft, Y., & Resner, J. (2006). Undercounted. Underserved. Immigrant and refugee families in the child welfare system. Baltimore: Annie E. Casey Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lincroft, Y., & Cervantes, W. (2010). Language, culture, and immigration relief options. Washington, DC: First Focus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maiter, S., Stalker, C. A., & Alaggia, R. (2009). The experiences of minority immigrant families receiving child welfare services: seeking to understand how to reduce risk and increase protective factors. Families in Society, 90, 28–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mather, M., & Foxen, P. (2010). America’s future: Latino child well-being in numbers and trends. Washington DC: National Council of La Raza.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morrison, A. D., & Thronson, D. B. (2010). Beyond status: Seeing the whole child. Evaluation and Program Planning, 33, 281–287.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Conference of State Legislators. (2010). State laws related to immigration and immigrants. Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=19897.

  • Olson, L. (2000). Mixed needs of immigrants pose challenges for schools. Education Week, 20(4), 38–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Passel, J. S. (2006). The size and characteristics of the unauthorized migrant population in the U.S.: Estimates based on the March 2005 Current Population Survey. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pessar, P. R. (1999). Engendering migration studies: the case of new immigrants in the United States. The American Behavioral Scientist, 42, 577–600.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pine, B. A., & Drachman, D. (2005). Effective child welfare practice with immigrant and refugee children and their families. Child Welfare, 84, 537–562.

    Google Scholar 

  • Portes, A., & Rumbaut, R. G. (2001). Legacies: The story of the immigrant second generation. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roer-Strier, D. (2001). Reducing risk for children in changing cultural contexts: recommendations for intervention and training. Child Abuse & Neglect, 25, 231–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Segal, U., & Mayadas, N. (2005). Assessment of issues facing immigrant and refugee families. Child Welfare, 84, 563–583.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations News Centre. (2009, October 27). UN human rights expert voices concern over treatment of child migrants. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=32746&Cr=migrant&Cr1.

  • United States Census Bureau. (2008). 2008 American Community Survey. Retrieved from http://factfinder.census.gov.

  • Velazquez, S. (2007). Acknowledgements. Protecting Children, 22(2), 2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Velazquez, S., Earner, I., & Lincroft, Y. (2007). Child welfare and the challenge of new Americans. Children’s Voice, 16(4). Retrieved from Child Welfare League of America website: http://www.cwla.org/voice/0707voice.htm.

  • Yu, S. M., Nyman, R. M., Kogan, M. D., Huang, Z. J., & Schwalberg, R. H. (2004). Parent’s language of interview and access to care for children with special health care needs. Ambulatory Pediatrics, 4, 181–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sonia C. Velazquez.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Velazquez, S.C., Dettlaff, A.J. Immigrant Children and Child Welfare in the United States: Demographics, Legislation, Research, Policy, and Practice Impacting Public Services. Child Ind Res 4, 679–695 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-011-9111-9

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-011-9111-9

Keywords

Navigation