Latino Children of Immigrants in the Child Welfare System: Prevalence, Characteristics, and Risk

Purpose: Children of immigrants represent one-fifth of all children under 18 in the United States. Over half of these families originate from Latin American countries, with Mexico accounting for 31% of all immigrant families in the U.S. Children in immigrant families are often considered at increased risk of maltreatment due to the stress and pressure experienced by the family resulting from immigration and acculturation. However, the number of immigrant children involved in the child welfare system is unknown, as this information is not collected uniformly at the local, state, or national levels. As a result, little is known about the characteristics or risk factors present in these families. This presentation will report the results of analyses conducted to identify the characteristics and risk factors of children in immigrant Latino families involved with child welfare systems, and to examine differences as compared to children in U.S. born Latino families.

Method: Data are from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW), a nationally representative sample of children who were subjects of reports of maltreatment to child welfare agencies. NSCAW consists of 5,501 children sampled from completed child welfare investigations. The sample design involved a two-stage stratified sample, with the primary sampling unit being county child welfare agencies and the secondary sampling units being children selected from closed investigations within the sampled agencies. The sample was divided into nine strata - eight states with the largest child welfare caseloads and the ninth consisting of 28 additional states. The nine strata combined produce national estimates. Data were analyzed in Stata 10.0 using survey commands to adjust for the two-stage sampling design. Significance tests are based on the Pearson chi-square statistic converted to an F-statistic using a second-order Rao and Scott correction.

Results: Analyses indicate that children of Latino immigrants represent 6.4% of all children reported to child welfare agencies, and 34.8% of all Latino children. Children of Latino immigrants are significantly more likely to be reported for sexual abuse (F=15.8; p=.0001), while children of Latino natives are more likely to be reported for neglect (F=27.9; p=.0000). While overall rates of maltreatment are not significantly different, children in immigrant Latino families are significantly less likely to experience many of the risk factors associated with maltreatment, including parental substance use, mental illness, economic strain, and poor parenting skills. However, children of Latino immigrants are more likely to live in homes that experience domestic violence.

Implications: This study provides new information on the characteristics and risk factors of children of Latino immigrants who come to the attention of child welfare agencies. These data also highlight important differences between immigrant and U.S-born Latino families that should be considered in the assessment process. Particularly, these data indicate that although immigrant families may experience significant stress resulting from migration and acculturation, they may not be at greater risk of maltreatment. This is important to consider in the assessment process when developing strategies to address the factors that led to child welfare system involvement.