Kristina Lovato

The population of young adults who are undocumented immigrants is growing in the United States, and little is known about the prevalence and experiences of undocumented transition-age youth in foster care. This policy brief uses administrative child protective case records to provide a foundational measure of youth immigration status documentation in California leading up to the enactment of Assembly Bill 829, which aimed to enhance coordination between child welfare and legal services through timely attorney notification. In addition, we examine relationships between immigration status and Transitional Independent Living Plan (a semi-annual document describing youths’ goals and the resources needed to achieve them; TILP) outcomes. Missingness in immigration status was common and increased over time. U.S. citizens and undocumented youth were more likely to have TILPs than youth who were legal residents or had a missing immigration status. Findings highlight opportunities to both invest in services for undocumented young people exiting care and explore barriers to immigration status documentation in administrative records.

The debate regarding much needed reform or abolition of the child welfare system has not centered the experiences of children from immigrant families who are at significant risk of child welfare involvement and immigration enforcement due to the increasingly punitive anti-immigrant immigration policy climate in the United States. Through a detailed analysis, this article reveals the reasoning for reform so the child welfare system can better serve these youth and their immigrant families’ needs. This article centers the unique experiences and needs of youth and immigrant families at the intersection of immigration enforcement and child welfare involvement. We propose a radical reform of the child welfare system’s policy and practices to better serve the needs of immigrant children and families who are at significant risk of dual systems involvement and forced family separation. Policy and practice recommendations aim to enhance service delivery and equity for children and immigrant families in the child welfare system.

This systematic review addresses the gap in the literature regarding sibling relationship quality among Latinx families, a topic that has not been comprehensively examined to date. This study aimed to synthesize current research on sibling relationship quality in Latinx families, focusing on the influence of cultural factors, identifying key variables associated with sibling relationship quality, and evaluating the methodological approaches used. This paper is a systematic review based on a recently published evidence and gap map (EGM) that identified and visually presented all published studies investigating sibling relationship quality. Additional inclusion criteria were applied to select articles that specifically examined sibling relationship quality in the United States samples with at least 50% Latinx participants. The review included 12 articles representing 6 distinct studies, revealing significant findings on the roles of familism, simpatía, and gender in shaping sibling dynamics. Results indicated that cultural values such as familism and simpatía positively influence sibling intimacy and warmth, while gender dynamics further moderate these relationships. Methodologically, the articles employed longitudinal and cross-sectional designs, utilizing various quantitative measures. The findings underscore the importance of culturally sensitive approaches in studying sibling relationships and highlight the need for further research to explore these dynamics in diverse Latinx subgroups.

A significant number of studies on program evaluations in Latin America have limited, if any, information on procedures, impact, and sustainability. Scholarly work emphasizes how evaluation designs must be deeply cognizant of socioeconomic, ecological, and resource contexts to be effective. The purpose of this article is to bring together research findings from three types of knowledge centered on evaluation processes and practices for working within Latin American countries. A scan of the empirical literature, expert interviews, and a case study are triangulated to assess the barriers and impacts of program evaluations in economically disadvantaged Latin American countries. We conclude by describing long‐standing principles and guidelines for evaluation procedures to promote community engagement and human capital development in all evaluation collaborations. Lessons learned reinforce the tenets of culturally responsive evaluation (CRE) procedures as critical to reproduce interventions that improve the lives of communities. Equity, contextual knowledge, and equal partnership are driving forces in centering social problems and developing human capital and the betterment of community conditions in our partnering countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had notable impacts on public child welfare systems and their ability to serve families. For immigrant families who enter the child welfare system, pandemic-related challenges were exacerbated on top of existing immigration-related stressors and barriers. This study used in-depth qualitative interviewing with child welfare agency staff and community-based service provider partners working with immigrants to explore their experiences in providing services to families navigating this unprecedented context. Results highlight the adaptations implemented to engage immigrant clients and facilitate interagency collaboration in light of barriers imposed by the pandemic. Practice implications center the need for child abuse and neglection prevention efforts to start in community and demand collaboration between government-based child welfare agencies and a range of grassroots, trusted community providers.

This descriptive study sought to explore how child welfare agencies and community partner organizations experienced and adapted service provision for immigrant children and families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were completed with 31 child welfare agency practitioners and community partners in 11 states who work with immigrant clients or on immigration related policies within the child welfare sector. Data were coded and analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. Results: Findings documented ongoing immigration-related fears in accessing services due to the anti-immigrant climate as well as increased scarcity of resources and basic needs stressors among immigrants served by the child welfare community during the pandemic. Results also identified child welfare systemic and structural barriers to accessing needed case supports for immigrants, in addition to innovative practice and policy adaptations to meet immigrant needs during the pandemic. COVID-19 created overwhelming challenges for already overburdened immigrant families at risk of or involved with the child welfare system. Child welfare agencies should foster collaborations with immigrant-serving community organizations who can share information and resources about COVID-19, immigration enforcement, and vaccine distribution. Agencies should adopt policies for tele-visiting that support transnational participation in virtual family visits and court hearings to create more equitable opportunities for reunification and permanency.

This qualitative study explored how service providers perceived the stressors that Latinx immigrants experienced due to COVID-19 and the restrictive immigration enforcement climate in the U.S. The study also examined how social service providers responded to immigrant families’ social service needs in light of the impediments imposed by the pandemic. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted via telephone and Zoom with social service providers. (n = 28) who provided direct services to immigrant clients in Los Angeles, CA. Colaizzi’s ( 1978 Colaizzi, P. F. (1978). Psychological research as the phenomenologist views it. In R. S. Valle & M King (Eds.), Existential phenomenological alternatives for psychology (pp. 48–71). Plenum. [Google Scholar] ) phenomenological method was utilized as a data analysis guide. Findings showed that Latinx immigrants experienced: (a) high rates of economic stressors and negative mental health outcomes due to the pandemic; (b) immigration-related distress and barriers seeking services; (c) shifting social service needs; and (d) relied on spiritual practices and mutual aid. Culturally responsive practice and policy implications are included. Future research recommendations include addressing the importance of enhancing relationships with immigrant-based centers and faith-based agencies to assist practitioners in serving more immigrant families to restore their physical, mental, and emotional well-being and prevent child welfare systems involvement. Policy recommendations are provided to encourage effective, culturally responsive innovations and adaptations to improve service provision and policy changes to best optimize the health of immigrant communities.

During the past two decades, U.S. immigration policies have been tightened resulting in increased deportations of unauthorized persons residing in the United States. This qualitative phenomenological study is theoretically grounded in family systems theory. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with Latinx youth (n = 8) and their remaining caregivers, specifically mothers (n = 8) who had recently experienced the deportation of the child’s father. Findings from the analysis revealed that following the deportation of a parent, families (a) modified family structures and relied upon extended familial support, (b) experienced familial tensions, (c) experienced financial difficulties and housing instability, and (d) retreated from social life, including drastically shrinking social networks. Implications for practice include developing culturally based, trauma-informed interventions for Latinx families affected by deportation.