Search

The Unaccompanied Refugee Minor (URM) Foster Care Program annually serves about 1,300 foreign-born youth with legal eligibility. This paper shows results from a cross-sectional, descriptive pilot study (n = 30 interviews) in the domains of education, employment, health, mental health, risky behaviors, and social connections. Results show that most URM youth (86.7%) had graduated from high school, 50.0% were in college, and 86.7% were employed. Many youth (60%) reported being in optimal health, 76.7% were happy, and 96.7% had a positive outlook for the future. Most URMs (83.3%) had a best friend, and 70.0% had people to talk to when feeling low, however 76.7% (n = 23) worried about being abandoned. Additionally, one URM reported engaging in multiple risky behaviors. Comparisons are made to youth in foster care who were born in the United States and show for example, that URMs are enrolled in higher education and satisfied with foster care services at statistically significant higher rates--but that they are insured at significantly lower levels than domestic youth exiting foster care. Future research is needed to examine economic security for young adults who are refugees and immigrants. Longitudinal research is also needed to see how independent living skills are developed and utilized over time. URMs could benefit from some contact with case managers or foster care alumni after discharge., The Unaccompanied Refugee Minor (URM) Foster Care Program is operated in collaboration between the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and the Department of State (DOS) and is administered through Lutheran [...]

Maternal sensitivity to infant distress is a key predictor of infant attachment security and social-emotional development. Preventive interventions that support mothers' sensitive responses to infant distress are crucial, as are rigorous evaluations that test for whom such interventions are effective. The current randomized controlled trial tested main and moderated effects of an attachment-based intervention on mothers' sensitivity to their infants' distress in 161 low-income, predominantly Latino mother-infant dyads. We tested the brief (10-session) Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) intervention in the context of home-based federal Early Head Start services. An intent-to-treat analysis with covariates revealed a positive main intervention effect on maternal sensitivity to distress following a brief novel and potentially fear-inducing procedure (d = 0.32). The intervention effect was not moderated by mothers' self-reported attachment security, avoidance, or anxiety. Findings are discussed in terms of the value and feasibility of increasing maternal sensitivity to infant distress through attachment-based intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Unaccompanied Refugee Minor (URM) Foster Care Program annually serves about 1,300 foreign-born youth with legal eligibility. This paper shows results from a cross-sectional, descriptive pilot study (n = 30 interviews) in the domains of education, employment, health, mental health, risky behaviors, and social connections. Results show that most URM youth (86.7%) had graduated from high school, 50.0% were in college, and 86.7% were employed. Many youth (60%) reported being in optimal health, 76.7% were happy, and 96.7% had a positive outlook for the future. Most URMs (83.3%) had a best friend, and 70.0% had people to talk to when feeling low, however 76.7% (n = 23) worried about being abandoned. Additionally, one URM reported engaging in multiple risky behaviors. Comparisons are made to youth in foster care who were born in the United States and show for example, that URMs are enrolled in higher education and satisfied with foster care services at statistically significant higher rates—but that they are insured at significantly lower levels than domestic youth exiting foster care. Future research is needed to examine economic security for young adults who are refugees and immigrants. Longitudinal research is also needed to see how independent living skills are developed and utilized over time. URMs could benefit from some contact with case managers or foster care alumni after discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]