NCJ Number
194917
Editor(s)
Donald J. Hernandez,
Evan Charney
Date Published
1998
Length
334 pages
Annotation
This book presents the report of the Committee on the Health and Adjustment of Immigrant Children and Families, with attention to issues pertinent to data collection, research, and improvement in public policy and programs pertinent to the health and well-being of immigrant children.
Abstract
The committee was composed of 19 members with expertise in public health, pediatrics, child psychiatry, developmental psychology, population studies, anthropology, sociology, economics, public policy, law, and history. The committee's charge was to synthesize the relevant research literature and provide demographic descriptions of immigrant children and families; clarify what is known about the varying trajectories that now characterize the families and development of immigrant children in the areas of health and social services; and assess the adequacy of existing data and make recommendations for new data collection and research needed to inform and improve public policy and programs. Based on its findings in these areas, the committee offers recommendations for research and for data collection and information dissemination. Regarding research, the committee recommends that the Federal Government fund a longitudinal survey of children and youth in immigrant families to measure physical and psychosocial development and the range of contextual factors that influence the development of these children. It further recommends that this longitudinal survey include a series of ethnographic studies on the physical and mental health of children and youth in diverse immigrant families. A third research recommendation is that both quantitative and qualitative research be conducted on the effects of welfare and health care reform for children and youth in immigrant families. Regarding data collection and information dissemination, the committee recommends that the Federal Government collect and code information on country of birth, citizenship status, and parents' country of birth in key national data collection systems. It further recommends that as the Federal Government develops new surveys or draws new samples to supplement or extend existing surveys, it should select and include subsamples that are large enough to reliably monitor the circumstances of children and youth in immigrant families as a whole and, where feasible, for specific countries of origin. The final recommendation is that key indicators of child well-being published in the annual report of the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics should distinguish among foreign-born immigrant children (first generation), U.S.-born children in immigrant families (second generation), and U.S.-born children in U.S.-born families (third and later generations). Extensive tabular and graphic data, 375 references, a subject index, and appended list of workshop participants, socioeconomic and demographic indicators, and a glossary