This policy brief summarizes how recent federal immigration policies threaten children’s well-being through family separation and detention, and outlines state and local strategies to protect children’s rights and support immigrant families.
This website offers state-by-state guidance on designating temporary guardianship to a trusted adult, with FAQs about establishing emergency contacts or temporary caregivers in case parents are detained or deported and separated from their children.
This free comprehensive online training addresses the unique challenges and opportunities when working with immigrant children and families in the child welfare system. It is geared toward child welfare agency administrators, practitioners, and other stakeholders. Three free social work CEUs are available from the NMSU School of Social Work.
This report examines how state and local governments implement language access measures, finding that while there’s no universal approach, governments can learn from existing efforts and adapt strategies to their own contexts and needs.
This policy brief analyzes administrative California child welfare data of undocumented immigrant youth in foster care, finding that immigration status data is often missing and that both U.S. citizens and undocumented youth were more likely to have transition plans than legal residents, highlighting needs for better services and data collection.
This research brief reviews the impact of state policy exclusions on immigrant family well-being.
This policy brief, co-authored by Dr. Kristina Lovato, Director of CICW, presents the first comprehensive analysis of state-level guidance on immigration enforcement in schools following federal changes to the Sensitive Locations Policy.
This page reviews Washington’s Family Separation Response Task Force, created by Governor Ferguson’s in January 2025, which works to improve statewide policies and develop resources to protect children whose parents face immigration detention or deportation.
This article explores an argument for radical reform of the child welfare system to better serve immigrant children and families who face the dual risks from immigration enforcement and child welfare involvement, proposing policy changes to improve service delivery and equity for these children and families.
This resource reviews key considerations and recommendations on how child protection agencies can address the immigration needs of non-citizen children in foster care.
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