Child Welfare & Unaccompanied Children in Federal Immigration Custody
National Center for Youth Law (December, 2019)
In 1997, the Flores Settlement Agreement established basic standards governing the custody, detention, and release of children in federal immigration custody. These standards are based on fundamental child welfare principles, namely that detention is harmful and that children should be reunified with their families as quickly as possible. This guide summarizes over two decades of lessons learned since its implementation and synthesizes the research and data that should ground future policy.
