The following blog was authored by Fulvia Camargo; Drew Hickman, BS; Shayla Anderson, MPH, MCHES; Mary Roary; PhD, MBA at the SAMHSA Office of Behavioral Health Equity (OBHE).
Migrants experience difficult conditions in their attempts to enter the United States whether at an air, land, or sea port of entry. This includes parents and children that have fled their home countries due to extreme poverty, violence, and other unbearable conditions for a chance to be given safe refuge in the United States. The experience of seeking refuge or migrating to a new country places children, adolescents, and their parents (or other caregivers) in extreme conditions that may place a strain on their mental and physical health, both at the time of migration and in some cases, for many years ahead.
Effects to Children
Children may experience challenges including struggles with regulating their emotions, completing tasks, misplacing items, and being organized. The prefrontal cortex of the brain does not finish developing until the mid to late 20s. This may result in children having less control of their emotional impulses making it difficult to regulate fear and other emotions. At this developmental stage, it may lead to children being constantly in fear when they are triggered, or when events remind them of their past. Trauma experienced early in life can lead to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, antisocial behaviors, and alcohol and substance use disorders. PTSD may present as difficulty regulating emotions and behaviors, which could lead to difficulty with fear, shame, rage, and potentially substance use. Children may experience difficulty concentrating, learning problems, dissociation, and low self-esteem. Children can suffer from Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD), a stressor and trauma-related condition of early childhood caused by social neglect and maltreatment. Children that have an attachment disorder may experience emotional attachment difficulty, decreased ability to experience positive emotions, and cannot seek or accept physical or emotional closeness.
Effects to Parents
Parents have a high probability of experiencing PTSD — a condition that may last months or even years. There are stressors that trigger memories of trauma that are accompanied by intense emotional and physical reactions. Parents with PTSD may experience trauma including family separation and physical assault. Parents may also experience a prolonged activation of stress-related disorders; for example, chronic stress is where the body experiences stressors with such intensity that the body remains in a constant state of physiological stimulation. This state can negatively affect all systems of the body including musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, nervous, reproductive, and respiratory.
Migrant parents strive to create a better life for their children and subsequently make the difficult decision to send their children off, unaccompanied, in order for them to cross the border into the United States for a better life. This act can lead to irreparable trauma and increase the risk of anxiety, depression, behavioral difficulties, learning problems, and substance abuse in minors. Under normal circumstances when a child undergoes a traumatic experience, their parents are typically there to help them cope. In the case of an unaccompanied minor refugee, the child will undergo prolonged stress which might lead to changes in genetics and abnormal physiological functioning. After a period of time children are reunited with their closest relatives living in the United States that can be located; for example, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and ideally their own parents. Please find a few resources below for behavioral health providers, teachers/school staff, and workers who may support migrant families at our borders.
Resources to Support Migrant Families
- Encourage professional counseling or behavioral therapy
There is a stigma surrounding behavioral and mental health. Some factors that come into play include cost of mental health care and feeling misunderstood. In Hispanic culture a family’s health tends to be valued more than that of the individual members of the family. However, the use of Spanish language materials strategically and coaching in Hispanic values can help improve therapy outcomes.
SAMHSA’s Behavioral Health Treatment Locator can assist with accessing treatment for mental health or substance use disorders. Through this tool, you can identify providers from your area that provide behavioral health services in different languages. - Promote primary care
Ensuring access to primary care provides an opportunity to establish a medical home for children and parents. Primary care providers can assist with disease prevention, health maintenance, health education, and health counseling. Access to primary care provides an opportunity to identify any developmental or behavioral health issues early and get them appropriately treated. The Health Resources and Services Administration offers the Find a Health Center tool that can assist with locating primary care providers across the U.S. and its territories. - Promote access to education
Gaining access to educational opportunities can help children and adolescents lead to better performance not only in school but in every part of their lives. Children can feel more connected to their environment by developing strong social skills and friendships. Providing children access to education improves language skills and teaches them how to navigate the new community, which further strengthens social and emotional learning.
There are no federal or state laws that prohibit the admission of undocumented immigrants into U.S. colleges. Only a few states have restrictions on undocumented students attending public colleges and universities. Undocumented students cannot receive federal financial aid for college; however, they can receive scholarships and financial aid in other ways. Prospective students may access resources for higher education obtained through other mechanisms. - Ensure access to resources for families and the behavioral health workforce
The Administration for Children and Families Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) has an Unaccompanied Refugee Minor Children (URM) program. The program offers a range of services including case management by social workers and mental health care for those populations who meet the specific eligibility requirements.
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network was created in 2000 through the Children’s Health Act and focused on increasing access and improving the standard of care for children and families who experience traumatic events. The network provides resources on refugee trauma for the behavioral health workforce and others.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also provides mental health tools and resources for children’s mental health, adult mental health, those coping with disasters or traumatic events, people seeking treatment, and public health professionals.
Additional Resources
Behavioral Health Workforce – SAMHSA’s National Hispanic and Latino Mental Health Technology Transfer Center aims to improve the capacity of the behavioral health workforce that serves Hispanic and Latino communities
Resources to Assist Asylum Seekers
The Biological Effects of Childhood Trauma
Psychologists Respond to a Mental Health Crisis at the Border
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