IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v173y2025ics0190740925001793.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Understanding the Needs of Unaccompanied Immigrant Children Separated from their Parents during the “Zero Tolerance” Policy in the US: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Author

Listed:
  • Lovato, Kristina
  • Hieu Thuan Bui, Daniel
  • Zaragoza, Michelle

Abstract

Beginning in July 2017, the Trump Administration implemented a policy of forcibly separating undocumented immigrant children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, causing widespread harm to the safety and wellbeing of immigrant children and families. This systematic review addresses the gap in the literature regarding the impact of mental health and social service outcomes of children who were forcibly separated from their parents during and following the Zero Tolerance Policy and examines barriers and facilitators in accessing social services upon their release from US detention facilities. This review includes 13 studies from 2018 to 2023. Results showed that following a forced family separation under this policy, youth experienced: 1) psychosocial stressors and negative mental health outcomes; (2) barriers and facilitators to receiving post-release services and care, and (3) factors affecting UC integration and coping. These findings underscore the importance of tailoring service provision to address the psychosocial and mental stressors of this population, addressing barriers to care, and supporting youth’s integration and adjustment through multidisciplinary and community collaboration. This review highlights the need for future research to explore the psychosocial needs of unaccompanied minors who experienced a forced family separation due to restrictive immigration policy. Keywords: immigration policy, Zero Tolerance Policy, forced family separation, immigrant child and family wellbeing, unaccompanied children.

Suggested Citation

  • Lovato, Kristina & Hieu Thuan Bui, Daniel & Zaragoza, Michelle, 2025. "Understanding the Needs of Unaccompanied Immigrant Children Separated from their Parents during the “Zero Tolerance” Policy in the US: A Systematic Review of the Literature," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:173:y:2025:i:c:s0190740925001793
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108296
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740925001793
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108296?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Roth, Benjamin J. & Grace, Breanne L., 2015. "Falling through the cracks: The paradox of post-release services for unaccompanied child migrants," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 244-252.
    2. Cardoso, Jodi Berger, 2018. "Running to stand still: Trauma symptoms, coping strategies, and substance use behaviors in unaccompanied migrant youth," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 143-152.
    3. Lovato, Kristina, 2019. "Forced separations: A qualitative examination of how Latino/a adolescents cope with parental deportation," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 42-50.
    4. Hasson, Robert G. & Crea, Thomas M. & Easton, Scott D. & Evans, Kerri & Underwood, Dawnya, 2021. "Clocking in: Employment outcomes for unaccompanied refugee minors leaving foster care in the United States," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    5. MacLean, Sarah A. & Agyeman, Priscilla O. & Walther, Joshua & Singer, Elizabeth K. & Baranowski, Kim A. & Katz, Craig L., 2019. "Mental health of children held at a United States immigration detention center," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 303-308.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Doering-White, John & Darrow, Jessica & Grace, Breanne & Roth, Benjamin & Herring, Aimee & Liew, Stefan, 2025. "Care under pressure: Policy contradictions of speedy release, safety, and placement suitability in ORR-contracted programs for unaccompanied migrant children," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    2. Hasson III, Robert G. & Oliva, Clara A. & LaBella, Bianca & Rodriguez, Dahiana, 2024. "“Little by little, I go”: Multiple dimensions of distress and support for unaccompanied children in the United States," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    3. Jani, Jayshree S. & Reisch, Michael, 2018. "Assisting the least among us: Social work's historical response to unaccompanied immigrant and refugee youth," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 4-14.
    4. Cardoso, Jodi Berger, 2018. "Running to stand still: Trauma symptoms, coping strategies, and substance use behaviors in unaccompanied migrant youth," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 143-152.
    5. Dávila, Dayana & Alvarado, Rafael, 2022. "Análisis del impacto de la Ley Orgánica para la Promoción del Trabajo Juvenil, Regulación Excepcional de la Jornada de Trabajo, Cesantía y Seguro de Desempleo, sobre el desempleo juvenil en Ecuador," MPRA Paper 113709, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Naseh, Mitra & Zeng, Yingying & Ahn, Eunhye & Cohen, Flora & Rfat, Mustafa, 2024. "Mental Health Implications of Family Separation Associated with Migration Policies in the United States: A Systematic Review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 352(C).
    7. Hasson, Robert G. & Crea, Thomas M. & Easton, Scott D. & Evans, Kerri & Underwood, Dawnya, 2021. "Clocking in: Employment outcomes for unaccompanied refugee minors leaving foster care in the United States," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    8. Rania, Nadia & Migliorini, Laura & Fagnini, Lucia, 2018. "Unaccompanied migrant minors: A comparison of new Italian interventions models," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 98-104.
    9. Roschelle, Anne R. & Greaney, Elizabeth & Allan, Timothy & Porras, Luz, 2018. "Treacherous crossings, precarious arrivals: Responses to the influx of unaccompanied minors in the Hudson Valley," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 65-76.
    10. Julia Manek & Andrea Galán-Santamarina & Pau Pérez-Sales, 2022. "Torturing environments and multiple injuries in Mexican migration detention," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-16, December.
    11. Chiu, Hsin-Yao & McGuire, Austen B. & Jackson, Yo & Stoolmiller, Mike L. & Rodriguez, Alyssa M., 2023. "Maneuvering through life with positivity: Estimating the effects of foster youth’s appraisal on coping styles," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    12. Warren Binford & Michael Garcia Bochenek & Pablo Ceriani Cernadas & Emma Day & Sarah Field & Marci Hamilton & Ton Liefaard & Benyam Mezmur & Fasil Mulatu & Ann Skelton & Julia Sloth-Nielsen & João Stu, 2023. "Report on Enforcing the Rights of Children in Migration," Laws, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-73, October.
    13. Avignone, Tatiana & Fernández-Pacheco Alises, Gloria & Torres-Jiménez, Mercedes, 2024. "Is there a gender-based analysis of unaccompanied migrant minors? A systematic review of the evidence," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    14. Doering-White, John, 2018. "The shifting boundaries of “best interest”: Sheltering unaccompanied Central American minors in transit through Mexico," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 39-47.
    15. Óscar F. Gil-García & Nilüfer Akalin & Francesca Bové & Sarah Vener, 2024. "Understanding the Mobilities of Indigenous Migrant Youth across the Americas," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-20, January.
    16. Kerri Evans, 2023. "Policy and Legal Implications for Working with Unaccompanied Immigrant Children in Foster Care in the United States," Laws, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-13, March.
    17. Crea, Thomas M. & Lopez, Anayeli & Taylor, Theresa & Underwood, Dawnya, 2017. "Unaccompanied migrant children in the United States: Predictors of placement stability in long term foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 93-99.
    18. Lee, Eunju & Dreby, Joanna & Hong, Yeeun & Seng, Tola, 2025. "Childhood immigration enforcement exposure and young adults’ anxiety: A mixed methods study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    19. Naseh, Mitra & Ilea, Passion & Aldana, Adriana & Sutherland, Ian, 2023. "Family separation as an oppressive tool: A scoping review of child separation from the primary caregiver as the result of migration policies," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:173:y:2025:i:c:s0190740925001793. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.