Training Overview
Many children from immigrant and refugee families have loved ones at risk of deportation. For these children, immigration enforcement operations in a community can pose a risk to mental health and development. Fortunately, supportive adults in a child’s life can play a large role in protecting children’s mental health and promoting positive development.
This training offers concrete strategies that adults can use to support children during periods of uncertainty and fear. Drawn from the field of developmental resilience science and informed by clinical practice, these strategies leverage ordinary resources around a child — most importantly, the presence of caring adults — and can be applied by anyone in service to children, including parents, educators, clinicians, and community leaders. Attendees will learn skills for communicating with children about immigration enforcement, restoring predictability and safety, promoting agency, and, most importantly, listening well.
Learning Objectives
- Articulate children’s core developmental needs amid fears of a loved one’s detention or deportation
- Implement practical strategies to support children who are afraid of a caregiver’s detention or deportation, as well as those whose caregiver has been arrested
- Advocate for the needs of children and families affected by immigration enforcement operations