immigrant issues in texas: integration into child welfare

Immigrant Issues in Texas: Integration into Child Welfare

Dr. Rowena Fong

The University of Texas at Austin

School of Social Work

512 471-1393

[email protected]

Demographics of Texas and USA

Texas USA

Population (2006 est.) 23,507,783 299,3987,484

White not Hispanic 48.3% 66.4%

Hispanic / Latino 35.7% 14.8%

Black 11.9% 12.8%

Asian & Pacific Islander 3.5% 4.6%

American Indian / Native Alaskan

0.7% 1.0%

Source: US Census Bureau, Census 2000 Demographic Profile Highlights


Texas USA

Foreign-born 13.9% 11.1%

Language spoken other than English at home

31.2% 17.9%



Texas USA

Persons per household 2.74 2.59

Median household income $41,645 $44,334

Per capita money income $19,617 $21,587

Persons below poverty 16.2% 12.7%



Texas USA

Persons under 5 yrs. 8.2% 6.8%

Persons under 18 yrs. 27.6% 24.6%

Persons 65 yrs. & older 9.9% 12.4%

High School Graduates 75.5% 80.4%

Bachelor’s Degree or more 23.2% 24.4%


Nativity & Place of Birth (Texas)

Number Percent

Total Population 20,851,820 100

Native 17,952,178 86.1

Born in the US 17,727,394 85.0

In Texas 12,970,203 62.2

In a different state 4,757,191 22.8

Born Outside US 224,784 1.1


Nativity & Place of Birth-- Foreign Born --

Number Percent

Foreign Born 2,899,642 13.9

Entered before March 2000 1,335,524 6.4

Naturalized citizen 914,326 4.4

Not a citizen 1,985,316 9.5


Region of Birth of Foreign Born

Number Percent

Total 2,899,640 100

Europe 152,327 5.3

Asia 466,218 16.1

Africa 64,470 2.2

Oceania 6,984 0.2

Latin America 2,172,476 74.9

Northern America 37,165 1.3


Language at Home

Number Percent

Population over 5 yrs. old 19,241,518 100.0

English only 13,230,765 68.8

Language not English 6,010,753 31.2

Spanish 5,195,182 27.0

Other Indo-European 358,019 1.9

Asian & Pacific Island lang. 374,330 1.9


Immigrant Issues in Texas

Agency-Related– System Priority (Goodness of Fit)– Reporting/Undercounted– Training and Education– Justification: Regional Impact, Numbers– Specialized Services/Underserved– Language Barriers– Collaborations/Coalitions


Community-related

• Limited Resources

• Cohort Mentality

• Coalition Building

• Community-based Initiatives (Neighborhood Place)


State-related

•Prioritizing

•Changing Attitudes and Policies

•Finding Funding Resources

•Modifying and Replicating Successful Models

Texas Child Welfare Initiatives: Integrating Immigrant Issues

Disproportionality

Leadership Development

Community Engagement

Undoing Racism

Kinship Care

Family Group Conference/

Family Team Meeting

Training Opportunities•Reporting and Assessments (Diversity, Cultural Competence)

•Legal Eligibility and Restrictions

•Service Delivery and Language Challenges

•Strengths-based, Value-centered

Interventions and Treatments

•Coalition Building and Community Engagement

Evaluation Opportunities

Texas Statewide

•Strategic Planning in Practices and Policies (Immigrant Issue Initiative)

•Determine Statewide Issues: Survey all Regions in Texas

•Determine Need for Services based on Problems Encountered

•Determine Current Agency Resources and Services/Identify Gaps


Texas Department of Family Protective Services

•Establish a specialized unit and create an immigrant specialist position

•Require Basic Skills Development Training to include immigrant issues

•Establish a Statewide Task Force on Immigrant Issues


•Develop Regional Coalitions (law enforcement; schools; mental health, health, employment providers)

Texas Department of Family Protective Services

Definitions

• Refugee is a person who is leaving the homeland because of persecution due to political, religious, war-related or other reasons. The person cannot return to the land of origin because of safety reasons.

A refugee will seek governmental permission to relocate and is legally admitted to a host country.

Definitions

• An asylee is a person who is leaving the homeland because of persecution due to politics, religion, war-related and other reasons. He or she is granted refugee status after entering the host country.

Definitions

• An immigrant is a person who voluntarily leaves the homeland and seeks employment, family reunification, or well-being opportunities in another country.

• An immigrant can be legal with documents or illegal without documents.

• Illegal documentation may also be due to lapsed business, tourist, or education visas.

Definitions

• Unaccompanied Minors:Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (URM) are children who have refugee status but do not have adult accompaniment or lack adult parental authority. They are under the authority of the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Unaccompanied alien children (UAC)

are children without documentation and are under the authority of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, Division of Unaccompanied Children.

immigrant issues in texas: integration into child welfare

Documents

us census bureau

mographics of texas

language challengesstrengths

region of birth

asian pacific islander3

foreign bornsource

money income

child welfaredr