Supporting Staff Working with Young Unaccompanied and Separated Children

• In Event: Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Topic - Solicited Content: Refugee Children

Abstract

Since 2017, the United States has had changes in immigration policy and practices leading to an increase in the holding and care of children under the age of 6 who were separated from their parents or guardians at the border. These children have been placed in “tender age” facilities while decisions regarding their placement or reunification are made. This influx of children in many cases overwhelmed systems of care, including group care/shelter facilities (ORR facilities) (HHS, 2019) due to some important factors:

•The impact of traumatic separation on young children’s functioning and presentation. In the case of migrant children, it can exacerbate prior traumatic stressors. Young children affected by traumatic separation can present behavioral, emotional, and relational difficulties.
•Lack of experience and training. According to a HHS report regarding ORR group facilities (2019), many group facilities had experience with unaccompanied children, but were not prepared to face the complex intersection of working with very young children who had been forcibly separated from their parents who were presenting emotional and behavioral symptoms as a result of the cumulative impact of pre-, during- and post-migration stressors.
•Changing policies and regulations. The staff and organizations faced challenges to keep up with the changes and to expedite family reunification or place the children with relatives.
•Increased risks in the staff for secondary traumatic stress and vicarious traumatization given the young age of the children, their grief reactions, and the breaking of social contracts as a result of the implementation of immigration enforcement policies that targeted the most vulnerable.

This presentation will highlight findings from an effort between two academic/clinical institutions to provide consultation and training to staff at a large human service organization tasked with caring for these children in two of its facilities, emphasizing a trauma-focused, developmentally appropriate, relational-based approach. A needs assessment was initially conducted that included staff surveys, focus groups and on-site observations in order to inform training, consultation and service planning; similar measures were used at the end to evaluate the effectiveness of the supports provided to the staff.

Results from this mixed-method evaluation suggest three main conclusions: 1) Although staff demonstrated basic knowledge of child development and social-emotional needs during the initial assessment, this knowledge did not translate into their work with the young children; 2) staff reacted most positively to training and consultation tailored to their specific experiences and was focused on “in the moment” strategies for interactions with the children; and 3) on-going support that allowed for reflection in an emotionally safe environment was important to address staff coping, especially during COVID-restrictions and procedure changes. This talk will end by highlighting practice and policy recommendations, raising the question of the ethical practice in a program setting constrained by national directives that many found deeply unethical.

Authors

• Michelle Saulnier, Erikson Institute
  Presenting Author

• Jon Korfmacher, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author