Describes the challenges facing child welfare professionals dealing with immigrants. A case study in New York City illustrates the barriers immigrants encounter and what happens when their special needs are disregarded. The Immigrant and Child Welfare Project (ICWP), housed in the Hunter College School of Social Work, has found that deficiencies in the child welfare system are not unique to New York. The ICWP identified 10 points to consider in working with immigrant families: (1) ensure that immigrant status is not used to deny services; (2) include legalization of immigrant status in permanency planning for undocumented youth in foster care; (3) always make translators available; (4) do not use minors as translators for their parents; (5) train staff about immigration issues and their effect on access to services; (6) ensure that staff receive cultural sensitivity training; (7) promote hiring of bilingual and bicultural staff; (8) conduct community outreach to recruit foster families from diverse populations; (9) develop programs and services to meet the needs of immigrant families; and (10) improve understanding among immigrant families of the services available to them. A training curriculum is being developed for both public and private family services providers.
