Social Connections and Community Engagement Trends Among Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Exiting Foster Care
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Author/Creator
Author/Creator ORCID
Date
2022-09-28
Type of Work
Department
Program
Citation of Original Publication
Evans, K., Pardue-Kim, M., Foster, R., & Ferguson, H., (2022). Social Connections and Community Engagement Trends Among Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Exiting Foster Care. J Ment Health Soc Behav 4(2):168. https://doi. org/10.33790/jmhsb1100168
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Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Subjects
Abstract
The United States has more immigrants than any other country
in the world. The Unaccompanied refugee minor program has been
serving thousands of youth annually since the 1970s and yet there is
still a dearth of research and some apprehension of how to assist these
vulnerable children in making friends and supportive relationships
in the US. Social ties, social support networks, and engagement in
the local/ immigrant community have all been shown to help ease
the transition to the United States and improve mental health well
being for immigrants. A national refugee resettlement agency sent
surveys to all the Unaccompanied Refugee Minors who had existed
foster care program three to 15 months prior to assess their social
connections and community engagement after the program ended.
Thirty youth replied and results show that living arrangements varied
among participants, social engagement in the community was present
for most of the young adults, relationships were an aspect of social
support, and reliance on public benefits was relatively low among
respondents. There are implications for caseworkers in terms of case
planning to help ensure youth are connected before they leave the
program, and future recommendations for more in-depth research are
included.