Building the Capacity of Social Service Systems to Serve Unaccompanied Immigrant Transitional Age Youth (TAY) during the Precarious Transition to Adulthood & Illegality

Background and Purpose:

During the past decade, the US has experienced a mass migration of youth and families from the Northern Triangle of Central America (Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador) who have sought refuge due to widespread poverty, violence, U.S-involved political instability, and natural disasters. This phenomenon has been marked by greater US immigration enforcement, a reduction of legal relief options, restrictions on public benefits, and the weakening of protective policies for immigrant youth and families. Many unaccompanied immigrant transitional age youth (TAY) ages 18-21, who experience a forced family separation during migration, experience trauma related to pre-, peri-, and post-migration and resettlement which increases vulnerability to public child welfare and other systems involvement. Fears around legal status may also result in TAY forgoing any public benefits and supportive services. This developmental transition, coupled with legal vulnerability, and restrictive immigration policies pose challenges for unaccompanied TAY in securing stable housing, employment, economic opportunities, and permanency. The research questions that guide this study explore the mental health and wellbeing of unaccompanied TAY and also examine how social service systems responded to youth's basic needs during their transition from childhood to adulthood; a “protected” status to undocumented and unprotected.

Methods

Data collection and recruitment consisted of purposive, snowball sampling via social service agencies that serve immigrant TAY in California. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted in 2023-2024, remotely and in-person with (n=15) unaccompanied immigrant transitional age youth; (15) public child welfare workers; and (n=20) social service providers (school-based, legal services, mental health), to gain insight into youth’s mental health, lived experiences, barriers and supports in accessing social services. Data were transcribed, coded, and analyzed via thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006).

Findings: Data analysis showed that unaccompanied immigrant TAY experienced both challenges and innovations navigating the transition to adulthood by: 1) experiencing significant mental health stressors (i.e. trauma, fear, anxiety) adjusting to life in the US as undocumented immigrants subjected to immigration enforcement; 2) experiencing academic stressors due to language barriers, limited school resources, and challenges attending school due to the need to work; 3) unaccompanied TAY had to center employment needs over academic goals due to economic survival; 4) unaccompanied TAY developed vital immigrant peer social networks and drew upon support from immigrant serving social service providers in order to meet their basic needs and obtain social mobility.

Implications:

Findings from this study have implications for social work policy and practice in communities and in child welfare settings to provide culturally responsive innovations that improve services among TAY immigrant emerging adults. Based on these findings, social work practice with immigrant TAY should prioritize: 1) tailoring culturally responsive mental health interventions to address unique stressors; 2) developing holistic employment assistance programs that recognize the importance of economic survival while also addressing personal and academic goals, fostering a balance between work and other life domains; 3) leveraging and expanding existing social networks to foster a sense of belonging and support resource acquisition among unaccompanied immigrant TAY.