Key Immigration & Child Welfare Resources

FEATURED RESOURCES

Best Practices for Child Welfare in Working with Families with Immigrant Members

Migration Policy Institute & American Public Human Services Association (November 2021)

This practice guide provides recommendations and steps child welfare agencies can take to improve how they address the needs of immigrant families and promote child well-being.

Best Practices to Support Immigrant Families Involved in the Child Welfare System

Center on Immigration & Child Welfare (November 2019)

This document highlights best practices with respect to child welfare agency policy & procedure, workforce training, law and policy, transnational practice, and cross-systems collaboration to support immigrant families.

Culturally Competent Practice With Immigrant & Refugee Families Resource List

Center on Immigration & Child Welfare (November 2019)

This document provides a list of vetted resources aimed at enhancing knowledge and implementation of culturally competent practice with immigrant and refugees in the child welfare system, in direct practice settings, and in communities.

DHS’ Protected Areas Policy: What Advocates and Providers Need to Know

NILC, CLASP, CLINIC (February 23, 2022)

This resource includes a webinar recording and supplemental materials (e.g., guides, explainers, and more) about the updated DHS Protect Areas Policy (formerly called “sensitive locations” policy).

Foreign Consulate Contacts

Center on Immigration & Child Welfare (n.d.)

This page provides the contact information for the consulates of some of the countries with the highest population of immigrants in the U.S.

Guidance for Immigrant and Refugee Families: Parenting in a New Country

Child Welfare Information Gateway (December 2022)

This factsheet for immigrant and refugee parents highlights the challenges immigrant families may face while raising children in a new country and provides guidance and resources for navigating these challenges.

Guidance for Immigrant and Refugee Families: The Child Welfare System

Child Welfare Information Gateway (January 2023)

This factsheet for immigrant and refugee families explains the U.S. child welfare system and provides information on what families may experience if they become involved with the child welfare system.

Guidelines for Child Welfare Agencies to Prepare for Immigration Enforcement Raids

Center on Immigration and Child Welfare (August 2019)

This guide from the Center on Immigration and Child Welfare provides child welfare agencies with guidelines on what to do if an immigration raid takes place.

ICE Online Detainee Locator

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (n.d.)

If children in immigrant families come into contact with the child welfare system due to parental detention, or if parents or family members are detained during the course of a child welfare case, child welfare agencies can use the ICE Online Detainee Locator to locate parents or family members in ICE detention in order to connect them with their children and enable them to participate in the case. Individuals may search via the detainee’s A# (9-digit ‘alien number’ assigned by immigration authorities) and country of birth, or by their first and last name and country of birth.

Immigrant Families & Child Welfare Systems: Emerging Needs & Promising Policies

Mark Greenberg, Randy Capps, Andrew Kalweit, Jennifer Grishkin, and Ann Flagg, Migration Policy Institute (April 2019)

This report presents key policy issues for child welfare agencies with respect to working with immigrant families as well as promising best practices and agency approaches.

Inclusive Practice with Immigrant Families: A Guide for Service Organizations and Practitioners

Anayeli Lopez, Megan Finno-Velasquez, and Sophia Sepp; Center on Immigration and Child Welfare (December 2022)

Know Your Rights Information on ICE Raids for Parents/Community/Attorneys

KIND (July 15, 2019)

This resource provides a collection of Know Your Rights resources to help prepare parents, community members, and attorneys on ICE raids on the sponsors of unaccompanied children and families.

Latino Grandfamilies: Helping Latino Children Thrive Through Connection to Culture and Family

Generations United (November 21, 2021)

This new toolkit provides resources and tips to child welfare agencies, other government agencies, and nonprofit organizations so that they can better serve Latino grandfamilies regardless of child welfare involvement.

Legal Resource List

Center on Immigration & Child Welfare, Corinne Wolfe Center for Child & Family Justice (November 2019)

This document highlights legal resources related to child welfare, public benefits, separated children, special immigrant juvenile status, and trauma responsive practice.

OTIP Factsheet

Administration for Children & Families, Office on Trafficking in Persons

This factsheet provides an overview of the Office on Trafficking in Persons and its programs.

To make a report to OTIP for Non-Citizen Minors click here.

Parental Detention and Deportation in Child Welfare Cases

Prudence Beidler Carr, American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law (April 2019)

This article analyses themes from 15 years of child welfare case law in which parental detention or deportation has been a factor.

Parenting in a New Context: Strategies for Practitioners Supporting Immigrant and Refugee Caregivers

National Child Traumatic Stress Network (November 2020)

This four-part podcast series provides recommendations to practitioners on how to work with and provide culturally responsive care to immigrant and refugee families.

Psychological First Aid for Unaccompanied Children

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (2021)

Promising Practices When Working with Immigrant Kinship Caregivers

Cristina Ritchie Cooper and Elizabeth Christy, American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law (July 1, 2017)

This resource shares recommendations and promising practices for working with immigrant kinship caregivers in the child welfare system.

Protecting Assets & Child Custody in the Face of Deportation: A Guide for Practitioners Assisting Immigrant Families

Appleseed Network (Updated 2017)

This manual, originally published in 2012, summarizes several potential issues immigrant families may confront in the face of deportation and provides practical considerations for supporting immigrant families who face uncertain immigration enforcement experiences. 14 additional user-friendly checklists provide a user-friendly overview of each topic and quick tips.  All resources are available in English and Spanish.

Public Charge Update: What Advocates Need to Know Now

Protecting Immigrant Families (January 2023)

This resource provides updates on the current public charge rule and its implications for immigrants.

Rapid Response Toolkit

Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (June 21, 2019)

This toolkit provides best practices and lessons learned for conducting rapid responses during ICE raids and arrests in order to support and guide people during and after an enforcement operation.

Serving Immigrant Children & Families with Child Welfare System Involvement: Promising Models for Meeting Complex Needs at the Intersection of Immigration & Child Welfare

Sophia Sepp, Effie Clayton, Megan Finno-Velasquez & Kristina Lovato; Center on Immigration and Child Welfare (December 2023)

The resource explores the specialized models that child welfare agencies in CA, NJ, NM, NYC, and OR have implemented in order to meet the unique needs of immigrant children and families who become involved with the child welfare system.

Special Immigrant Juvenile Status Predicate Order Resource Center

Project Lifeline

This resource center provides a repository of resources on the law and best practices for representing undocumented children in state juvenile courts and understanding where to look for more information. It includes a Predicate Order State-by-State Age-Out Analysis as a quick reference guide on SIJS laws/statutes in different states.

State Public Benefits Charts and Interactive Public Benefits Map

National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project (2022)

This resource helps professionals working with immigrant survivors identify which public benefits each particular immigrant survivor qualifies for in their state.

State Specific Models and Resources

Center on Immigration & Child Welfare (n.d.)

Resources on this page include example policies, procedures, and guides from state and county child welfare agencies across the country regarding services to immigrant children and families. These resources can be used by other states to develop or improve their services to this population.

Strengthening Child Welfare Practice for Immigrant Children & Families: A Toolkit for Child Welfare Professionals in California

Immigrant Legal Resource Center (August 12, 2019)

This toolkit provides guidance to child welfare agencies in California working with immigrant children and families, and its recommendations have important implications for child welfare practice across the country.

The New Mexico Children, Youth & Families Department Immigration Unit: A Model for Child Welfare & Juvenile Justice Systems Serving Immigrant Children and Their Families

Center on Immigration & Child Welfare and New Mexico Children, Youth & Families Department (November 2022)

This resource provides an overview of the key services and activities of the NM Children, Youth & Families Department Immigration Unit as a model and guide for child welfare and juvenile justice systems serving immigrant children and families.

Trauma in Immigrant Families Resource List

Center on Immigration & Child Welfare (November 2019)

This document provides a list of vetted resources that explain the risk of trauma in immigrant and refugee groups, responses and strategies to mitigate the impact of trauma in the context of the political environment in the U.S., and tools for agencies and individual providers use in practice with immigrant and refugee families.

Trauma-Informed Care Model for Immigrant Hispanic and Latino Clients

National Hispanic and Latino Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (March 2021) 

This informative booklet presents trauma-informed approaches and trauma-specific treatment services as preferable models to manage Latino populations’ culturally specific experiences to increase engagement and improve treatment outcomes.

What Part of Legal Immigration Don’t You Understand?

Mike Flynn & Shikha Dalmia, Reason Magazine (October 2009)

This document provides a visual graphic of the pathways through the U.S. immigration system in order to attain legal status.

Working With Immigrant and Refugee Families: A Guide for Child Welfare Agencies

Child Welfare Information Gateway (October 2022)

This bulletin describes key considerations and challenges for child welfare agencies serving immigrant and refugee families and provides systemwide strategies that agencies can use to improve outcomes for this population.

Working With Immigrant Families: A Guide for Child Welfare Caseworkers

Child Welfare Information Gateway (October 2022)

This bulletin outlines key considerations for child welfare case workers working with immigrant and refugee families and provides strategies to improve services for this population that take into account the unique challenges and circumstances these children and families face.