Unaccompanied Immigrant Children: Recommendations for the Child Welfare System

Purpose: Presently, there are increasing numbers of immigrant children entering the United States undocumented and unaccompanied. Due to the lack of empirical data on these children, the study's objective was to explore the reasons why these children leave their homes and families and the strengths and protective factors that help them survive the journey to the U.S. The research questions guiding the study were: 1) Is there a relationship between the risk factors and the protective factors reported by undocumented, unaccompanied children in federal custody; and 2) Which demographic, personal, and interpersonal factors support the resilience demonstrated by these children.

Methods: This study used a cross sectional ex-post facto correlational design in order to explore the children's perceived experiences at three points of time: home country; journey; and their future outlook. The sample was comprised of 118 undocumented, unaccompanied children from Central American countries, age 14-17, who were in the federal custody of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement at the time of data collection. The dependent variables of this study were the three dimensions of resiliency: social bonding; personal competence; and social competence. The independent variables for this study include the dimensions of risk (family, peer associations, neighborhood environment, alcohol and other drug exposure and use, and self-reported risk behaviors) and background variables (age, gender, country of origin, education, and work experience). There were two parts of the study: 1) a 21-item descriptive survey to gather demographic information (age, gender, home country, education, work experience, family composite, treatment--home and journey, motivation to leave, and future outlook. The second measures adolescent resiliency using the Individual Protective Factors Index (Cronbach Alpha .77). This correlational study utilized bi-variate analyses to explore the relationships between protective and risk factors. Further, T-tests and analyses of variance measured any significant differences in these factors based on a child's perception of their life experiences in the home country, on the journey, and in relation to their future outlook.

Results: Protective factors were in the moderate range with personal competence, the strongest. Similarly, risk factors (including those stemming from family environment, peer group, the neighborhood environment, and personal risk behaviors) were generally moderate. Additionally, there were a number of significant relationships between protective and risk factors. The majority of children state that their reasons for migration are primarily to join parents and other family members or to work to support family at home, demonstrating strong family relationships and attachment.

Implications: The findings show that these children have both moderate protective and risk factors. The study population represents typical adolescents and therefore, while they are in a system of care, it is important to work on building their resiliency in an effort to prepare them for their future. Thus, it is recommended that those who encounter these children via the child welfare system build on the identified protective factors by utilizing strengths based approach based on child welfare best practice standards.