Objectives
The objective of this presentation is to highlight, through the presentation of a clinical case example, how a community-based social services agency, such as Northern Virginia Family Service (NVFS), responds to the psychosocial needs of unaccompanied minors and their families and addresses and mediates barriers to successful family reunification.
Methods
NVFS provides comprehensive services to unaccompanied minors and their families. Services include intensive case management, individual in-home counseling, family counseling, family and individual education workshops, and immigration legal support. The case being presented is that of a 15-year-old girl from Guatemala who immigrated on her own to the United States to be reunified with her parents after a 12-year separation. The child has an extensive trauma history and is also pregnant. She benefited from comprehensive services offered through NVFS’s family reunification program.
Results
The case presentation will demonstrate how these comprehensive services responded to the client’s immediate basic needs, addressed trauma, and repaired the wounds of separation, with the ultimate goal of strengthening her relationship with her family, developing a plan for her and her baby’s future, and minimizing safety and risk factors.
Conclusions
Responding to the psychosocial needs of unaccompanied minors and their families in a timely fashion and through comprehensive social service delivery can help to stave further exposure to risk factors associated with being an unaccompanied minor. This is achieved through addressing and cultivating internal and external strengths and mediating barriers to healthy psychosocial adjustment.