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Undocumented Child Essay

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What motivates or is associated with this decreased likelihood of kinship placement is, however, unclear. While the finding of statistically significant differences in the proportion of children placed in kinship care by immigration status suggests a barrier to the placement of undocumented children, additional analyses of just undocumented children on variables potentially associated with kinship placement outcomes yielded no significant differences. This raises several questions regarding what contributes to the differential placement of children by immigration status. Is the decreased likelihood of kinship placement a factor of relative availability: Are there simply no relatives available in the United States to provide a placement? Or are available relatives constrained from becoming kinship caregivers because of their immigration status? Alternatively, is the decreased likelihood of kinship placement for undocumented children due to child or family environmental characteristics not explored in this analysis: Are there other behavioral or cultural characteristics associated with children with undocumented status that contribute to the decreased likelihood of their placement with relatives? Or are the family economic circumstances of the caregiver and difficulties noncitizen families face in receiving stipends for fostering children …show more content…

Ayón and colleagues (2013) suggest that Latino families may not be accessing kinship care due to challenges to becoming licensed caregivers that include barriers with regards to how kin is defined, immigration status, socioeconomics, and language-appropriate services. Additionally, as Berger Cardoso, Gomez, and Padilla (2009) suggest, child welfare workers may be failing to look across international boundaries to find appropriate kinship

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