Immigration and Trauma-Informed Pediatric Service Delivery

Overview: This workshop presents and discusses the specific needs of children born to immigrant families using the narrative of 27 immigrant parents interviewed. It further provides practitioners with education and an opportunity to acquire trauma-informed skills to support children of immigrant families.Proposal text: More than 23% of all parents of children under 18 in the U.S. are immigrants ( Migration Policy Institute, 2021). Compared to children born to native parents, those born to immigrant parents experience increased psychological challenges (WHO, 2021), a greater risk of mental health disorders (Derr, 2015), and are less likely to have health insurance (Guzman et al., 2020). Moreover, these minors have twice the rate of psychological distress as their parents (Mancenido et al., 2020) because they endure multiple and unique adversities during a critical lifespan period (Halfon et al., 2014). These recurring stressors may traumatize the child and impair their developmental trajectory (Halfon et al., 2014). Thus, service providers require pediatric, immigration-related trauma-informed methods to enhance cultural competency and advanced clinical service.

This workshop highlights the unique clinical needs of children born to immigrant families. The data is drawn from a qualitative research study that gathered 27 interviews. The participants were undocumented parents with U.S citizen children. The interviews were audio-recorded in Spanish, transcribed verbatim in the native language, and translated into English. Transcripts were coded using open coding technics and drawing on a priori codes based on the literature. All a priori codes used in later analytical stages earned their way into the analysis by being linked with quotations from respondents. The original open coding process bred higher-order themes that emerged in subsequent analyses. Negative case analysis and constant comparison techniques were conducted throughout the study to ensure consistency and fidelity.

The findings revealed that the unmet needs experienced by the families include insufficient financial resources, parental limited English proficiency, family unity, acculturation challenges. The participants explained that some unmet psychological needs originate from immigration-related stress and prolonged separation from each other, which induces trauma. More specifically, the migration process, immigration enforcement, the parent's legal exposure, violence experienced before, during, and post-migration, and constant fear of potential family separation are significant adversities. These risk factors may interfere with the child's access to social services and increase the risk of unreported child abuse and neglect.

To help immigrant families cope with trauma, clinicians, child welfare professionals, and service providers can familiarize themselves with and implement trauma-informed and culturally sensitive practices. During the didactic portion of the presentation, principles of trauma-informed care and culturally sensitive practice will be discussed. Examples of programs and promising practices will be provided, and resources will be shared for professionals working with children born to immigrant families. During the session, there will be a combination of information being shared, opportunities to ask questions, and group dialogue.