Challenges for Immigrant Children and their Parents Research Paper

Challenges for Immigrant Children and their Parents - Research Paper Example There are several factors involved in the challenges that immigrant children and their families face. The influx of immigrants and their children are so great that the child welfare services are swamped by these sheer numbers on one side, and on the other side, there is the lack of ability in child welfare services to understand and meet the requirements of the immigrant children. Another factor in the well-being of the immigrant children and their families is the legal status of the immigrants, as different statuses carry with it the deriving of different levels of benefits and services. Another important challenge for immigrant children and their families is the lack of proficiency in the English language, as nearly all of the immigration come from countries, where there is limited exposure to the English language. This deficiency is likely to lead to the family falling in the low-income group, with the accompanying issue of the poor health status of the children. Understanding the challenges of immigrant children can be derived from the stages of migration framework, and the critical variables involved in it, and the factors that have an impact on each stage of migration. Factors that impinge on the different stages of migration include age, family background, urban or rural background, socioeconomic background, occupation, religion, and social support. The premature stage or the departure stage, transit or immediate stage, resettlement stage, and return to the country of origin stage make up the four stages in the stages of migration framework. This framework provides an understanding on the challenges that are faced by immigrant children and their families, which are important for child welfare social workers.