An examination of child welfare agency models that serve immigrant children and families
Kristina K. Lovato, Megan Finno-Velasquez, Sophia Sepp, Effie Clayton & Kelechi Chinyere Wright; Journal of Public Child Welfare (March 18, 2024)
This study examined child welfare system models for serving immigrant children and families. Findings highlight the importance of specialization of immigrant-related knowledge and skill sets, relationships with consulates and external stakeholders, and innovative engagement approaches.
A Pathway to Permanency: Collaborating for the Futures of Children who are Immigrants in the Child Welfare System
Joanne Gottesman, Randi Mandelbaum & Meredith Pindar; Child Welfare League of America (2019)
This article explores the unique statewide collaboration between Rutgers Law School and the New Jersey Department of Children and Families to provide immigration legal services to children in foster care, including the purpose, structure, and staffing of the collaboration and services offered.
Best Practices Guide to Screening for Immigration Consequences In New York Family Court, with Supporting Materials
Immigrant Defense Project (July 2021)
This best practices guide and supporting materials aim to help family court counsel identify when to work with an immigration attorney in a client’s case and navigate complex immigration concerns.
Correcting Course: Restoring the critical protection of placement in licensed facilities for children in federal immigration custody
Neha Desai, Emma McGinn, & Laura Alvarez; National Center for Youth Law (April 2023)
This briefing explores the erosion of state child welfare licensing procedures for facilities that house unaccompanied minors and offers recommendations to restore important protections.
Fact Sheet for Child Welfare & Guardianship Stakeholders: ICE Policies and Standards Related to Detained Parents & Legal Guardians
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (October 1, 2022)
This factsheet on the newly revised Parental Interest Directive provides info on detained parents’ and/or guardians’ rights to maintain contact with and make decisions for their children and to participate in any related court or child welfare proceedings.
Framework for Considering the Best Interests of Unaccompanied Children
Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights (May 2016)
This document provides a framework for how immigration officials could consider the best interests of unaccompanied children throughout their decision-making continuum from apprehension to placement to release and repatriation.
How can child protection agencies support families and children who lack lawful immigration status?
Casey Family Programs (June 22, 2020)
This resource covers resources and strategies to best support immigrant families that do not have documented status within the United States.
Interests of Noncitizen Parents and Legal Guardians of Minor Children or Incapacitated Adults
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (July 14, 2022)
The 2022 ICE parental interest directive establishes ICE policies and procedures to protect the parental and/or guardianship rights of parents and legal guardians who are taken into ICE custody.
Immigrant Caregivers: The Implications of Immigration Status on Foster Care Licensure
ABA Center on Children and the Law (December 14, 2022)
This brief reviews foster care licensure for immigrant caregivers, describes challenges that state licensing standards may present for undocumented caregivers, and explains how caregivers may overcome these challenges.
Immigrant Families and Child Welfare Systems: Emerging Needs and Promising Policies
Mark Greenberg, Randy Capps, Andrew Kalweit, Jennifer Grishkin, and Ann Flagg, Migration Policy Institute (April 2019)
Some states and localities have developed specialized policies and practices for working with children in immigrant families, though these vary considerably. This report explores this diversity of approaches, drawing on interviews with child welfare officials from 14 states, six counties, and New York City. For each of nine key issues—ranging from agency staffing and training, to language access policies and cooperation with foreign consulates—the researchers identify a recommended approach and discuss relevant policies and practices.
Immigrants in the Child Welfare System: Case Studies
ABA Center on Children and the Law, American Bar Association (May 2018)
This resource provides guidance on how to navigate a number of scenarios in which children and their families may benefit from support services but face intersecting immigration and child welfare legal challenges. The analysis informs not only child welfare professionals including case workers, attorneys, and judges, but also immigration law professionals whose clients may interact with the state child welfare system. Understanding the complexities that arise when families interact with both systems is a critical step in better advocacy for and support of immigrant children and families.
In the Shadow of Child Protective Services: Noncitizen Parents and the Child-Welfare System
Tal D. Eisenzweig, The Yale Law Journal (November 21, 2018)
This essay reviews the unique position of non-citizen parents involved with the child welfare system and argues that Child Protective Services should take measures to ensure that their immigration status does not negatively impact them in family court.
Meaningful Ties for Transnational Families: A Toolkit for Child Welfare Cases – Judges, Attorneys and Child Welfare Personnel
Southern Arizona Transnational Task Force (Updated June 2019)
This toolkit provides judges, attorneys and child welfare case workers in Arizona with detailed information on how best to address child welfare cases that involve a transnational family – those with close members and meaningful ties in at least two countries.
Immigration Referral Tool for Caseworkers
ABA Center for Children & the Law (December 2023)
This referral tool is designed to help caseworkers identify whether a child in foster care may benefit from the services of an immigration attorney.
Immigration Referral Tool for Child Welfare Attorneys
ABA Center for Children & the Law (December 2023)
This referral tool is designed to help attorneys of children in foster care identify if a child may benefit from services from an immigration attorney and make a meaningful referral to that attorney.
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.
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 Overview
ABA Children’s Immigration Law Academy (2023)
This cheat sheet provides an overview of SIJS process and eligibility requirements.
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.
Strengthening Child Welfare Practice for Immigrant Children & Families: A Toolkit for Child Welfare Professionals in California
Immigrant Legal Resource Center (August 12, 2019)
With half of all children in California coming from an immigrant family, child welfare agencies in California must be equipped to effectively support immigrant children and families on the pathway to permanency. The objective of this toolkit is to provide guidance to child welfare agencies in California working with immigrant children and families.
The ICE Parental Interests Directive: How Child Welfare Agencies Can Advocate with ICE to Ensure Fair Treatment of Detained or Deported Parents
Immigrant Legal Resource Center (September 7, 2022)
This resource for child welfare agencies reviews the ICE Parental Interests Directive and provides tips on how to utilize it as an advocacy tool when working with detained or deported parents.
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.
Working with Immigrant Children and Families Involved in the State Child Welfare System
American Bar Association, Children’s Immigration Law Academy (2021)
This webinar series reviews best practice for attorneys when working with child welfare system involved immigrant children and families, focusing on the different roles of the child welfare agency, the child’s attorney, and the parent’s attorney.
