Unaccompanied children are immigrants under 18 years old without a parent or guardian at their time of arrival to their host countries. In the United States, the numbers of unaccompanied children arriving at the Southern border have steadily increased since 2012, with a record number arriving in 2023. Many unaccompanied children migrate to the United States to escape extreme poverty and community violence or to reunite with family members. Like other displaced populations, unaccompanied children are vulnerable to further violence and exploitation during their migration journeys and after their arrival to the United States. Yet this population is uniquely vulnerable, given their developmental needs and their often complicated health and mental-health challenges.
The vast majority of unaccompanied children (98.9%) are placed with community sponsors, and follow-up about them is essentially impossible. A small number enter foster care under the auspices of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), through either the long-term foster care program or the unaccompanied refugee minors program. The foster care process and related policies have been put in place to ensure the safety and well-being of unaccompanied children who require foster care in the United States. Research has analyzed key policies that affect unaccompanied children, ORR’s foster care system in the United States, and the placement process and well-being outcomes. Future policy should be developed in ways that protect the best interests of unaccompanied children in the context of rapidly changing circumstances related to global migration.
