Undocumented Parents Navigating Disability & State Laws

Background & Purpose: Parents with differently-abled children must contend with an array of systems and challenges when accessing services their children need. For undocumented parents, there is an additional layer of negotiating and strategizing which programs to participate in while minimizing the risks of deportation. The present study captures how undocumented parents living in Chicago navigate a thorny political environment. Drawing on the accounts of thirty-seven parents, this study explores how parents learned about available programs and services, and what decisions they made to ensure their children’s health and well-being.

Methods: Data collected for this study was collected from January to June of 2019 using a combination of purposive and snowball sampling. Thirty-seven undocumented parents were recruited through local organizations. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants with different levels of involvement within organizational programs, from new recruits to long-term members. Participants ranged in ages from 34 to 58, thirty-one of them women, and six men. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed using grounded theory and the software MAXQDA.

Results: Participation was highest among parents with a differently abled child, especially for programs offering essential services such as restricted driver’s licenses and medical care. Parents prioritized their children’s health over any fears or risks that might inhibit them from applying to these programs. The key to these high rates of participation can be traced to the connections parents made with safety-net providers. These providers became the source of information and trustworthy allies who addressed concerns and dispelled fears.

Conclusions & Implications: Findings from this study demonstrate the power of local organizations, particularly community-based and health care providers for parents who are undocumented and have differently-abled children. They serve as entry points and bridges to new systems that parents must learn to navigate. The parental accounts reveal that while state programs and local policies are important so are the relationships and connections which undocumented parents forge in these spaces.