Schools and early childhood centers may find themselves in the position of caring for children whose parents, caregivers, or guardians have been detained during the school day. This may involve the detention of individuals or broader workplace detentions that impact a large group.
Having some protocols in place for this situation improves the chance of finding an appropriate caregiver for students and providing immediate supports that are needed.
Tips for Schools
Emergency Contact Information
- Make every effort to help families keep their emergency contact information updated.
- Ask for multiple emergency contacts, including at least one contact who is a U.S. citizen.
- Find helpful tips in How to Help Multilingual Families Update Emergency Contact Information.
District Plan
Find out if your district/program has a basic protocol for educators to follow if parents, caregivers, or guardians have been detained. If so, review it to see what it entails.
If not, consider creating one that includes:
- What district employees should do if they suspect a parent or caregiver has been detained or deported
- Whom to contact
- Where the child should stay until emergency contacts are reached
- Protocols for finding and communicating with siblings, including those who attend other schools
- Determining whether siblings are of caregiving age or not
- Guidance on following all parental instructions and exhausting contact options to find a "known caregiver in a safe environment" (Stanford Law School & California Charter School Association, 2017, p. 17) in an effort to minimize referrals to child protective services
- Providing emergency/temporary shelter and care as needed
- Community partners that can mobilize if volunteers, meals, caregiving, or basic items (such as diapers) are needed
- Access to social-emotional support and services
- Guidance on working with child protective services should all options be exhausted to ensure the best possible outcomes for the child
- Additional actions the school can take to protect children whose parents have been arrested, detained, or are otherwise unavailable
To learn more about what this looks like at a practical level, we recommend the following case study about Postville, Iowa, where a large workplace raid took place in 2008:
- Lessons from Postville: How an Immigration Raid Changed a Small Town and Its Schools (Colorín Colorado)
See specific recommendations related to early childhood providers in the following:
Note: Researchers at UCLA studying the impacts of immigration enforcement on schools note that two administrators who responded to their survey reported that they were investigating foster parenting in case they needed to take students home with them (Gándara and Ee, 2018a).
Support for Students
It's also important for schools to identify the kinds of support that students may need. Family separation, detention, or deportation can cause intense trauma, stress, economic hardship, and uncertainty for students.
Immigrant students whose relatives are detained may be:
- Dealing with trauma
- Navigating legal issues
- Responsible for family finances and caretaking
- At risk of homelessness, food insecurity, and health issues
- In the care of siblings, relatives, neighbors, or designated guardians
Learn more about how to support students in these excerpts from our immigration guide:
- What educators need to know about anxiety and trauma
- How to address social-emotional needs of students
- Addressing students' basic needs
Recommended Resources
Following an immigration raid
- 10 Strategies Schools Can Use to Support Students After an Immigration Raid (Colorín Colorado)
- 10 Strategies for How Schools Should Respond to Help Children Impacted by ICE Raids | Infographic (Intercultural Research Development Association)
Guides, toolkits, and recommendations
- Caring for students whose parents or caregivers are detained or deported (Informed Immigrants)
- Responding to the Detention or Deportation of a Student's Family Member (California Attorney General)
- Protecting Assets and Child Custody in the Face of Deportation (Appleseed): This bilingual manual contains detailed information on issues ranging from school safety, child custody, psychological issues for children, special considerations for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, and financial services and products including credit cards, debit cards, mortgages and rental payments, taxes, veteran benefits, and much more.
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