Latino children of immigrants in the child welfare system: Prevalence, characteristics, and risk

Abstract

Children in immigrant families are often considered at increased risk of maltreatment due to the stress and pressure experienced by the family resulting from immigration and acculturation. Yet, despite the rapid growth of the immigrant population over the last twenty years, particularly among Latinos, little is known about the prevalence of Latino immigrant families involved in the child welfare system, their characteristics, or the risk factors associated with maltreatment in these families, and how these factors differ from those in Latino families who are native to the United States. This article uses data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW) to report population prevalence estimates of the child and family characteristics, incidence of maltreatment, parent and family risk factors, and community and neighborhood characteristics of children of immigrants involved in child maltreatment investigations. The analyses then examined whether these factors differed significantly from those in families with U.S.-born Latino parents. Findings suggest that significant differences are present, and that many of the risk factors associated with child maltreatment are more likely to be present in native-born Latino families.