How child welfare workers perceive their work with undocumented immigrant families: An explorative study of challenges and coping strategies

This explorative study, which is based on 39 interviews with child welfare workers in two counties in California, analyzes how child welfare workers perceive their work with undocumented immigrant families. More specifically, we ask if workers experience challenges and how they deal with these challenges. Of those workers having experience working with this population (n=31), one third did not experience any challenges, while two thirds did. The latter group reported challenges with regard to the child welfare system, the welfare system overall, and problems in the private sphere of service users. Some of these findings corroborate other studies. However, our findings also highlight a need for rigorous research that investigates whether and in what ways the situation for undocumented families differs from other marginalized service users. ► Child welfare workers are said to have problems working with undocumented families. ► 1/3 experience no particular challenges working with undocumented families. ► 2/3 experience challenges working with undocumented families. ► Child welfare workers exhibit a wide range of knowledge, opinions, and motivation. ► Rigorous research is needed on undocumented families in the child welfare system.