Child welfare policies have made improvements to preserve families, but there is still work to be done with undocumented families.
Undocumented families suffer from lack of empowerment due to these policies.
Data shows 180,000 parents whose children were in care of child protective services were deported from 1998-2007.
Undocumented families face discrimination, language barriers, deportation and poverty.
The Adoption and Safe Families Act promotes an 18-month time limitation for reunification.
This time frame continues to run even if parents are deported.
If parents are unable to attend court, their parental rights may be terminated, as they are seen as abandoning their children.
In many well known cases, termination of parental rights is initiated without the parents’ knowledge, and they are not informed of court dates or the whereabouts of their children.
This practice based solely on immigration status causes a separation of family and a cultural disconnect.
What can child welfare agencies do to address this concern?
There needs to be increased awareness of the policy, an extended time frame for family reunification and collaboration between the child protective agency and parent’s country of origin.
