Unaccompanied Children and the Pathway to Sponsorship

Approximately 70,000 unaccompanied children crossed the U.S. southern border in 2019. An unaccompanied minor is a child who enters the country without a parent or legal guardian or a child who, for other reasons, has been separated from their parent or legal guardian. The majority of unaccompanied minors encountered at the border are apprehended, processed and initially detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Once children leave the custody of border patrol, they are received by the Office of Refugee Resettlement. The unaccompanied minors hope to establish permanency in the United States.  

The Child and Adolescent Data Lab is currently working with the National Center for Youth Law and Civil Rights Clinic to evaluate and the care and supervision of unaccompanied children at the border. The assessment includes site visits to Office of Refugee Resettlement facilities, interviews with program staff and the analysis of data. 

Beyond an occasional media report, virtually nothing is known about this large population of children.  

• What systems do we have in place to serve these children?  
• Where do these children go?  
• How long does the process take?  
• What improvements could be made to better serve these children?  

These are some of the questions we seek to answer.

The Speaker

Joseph Ryan, professor of social work and co-director of the Child and Adolescent Data Center

Ryan’s research and teaching build upon his direct practice experiences with child welfare and juvenile justice populations. He conducts applied research in social service settings and has numerous studies focusing on child maltreatment, parental substance abuse, childhood trauma and juvenile delinquency. Ryan was appointed by the governor to serve on the Michigan Committee on Juvenile Justice. He also serves on the editorial boards of numerous journals including Child Maltreatment, Child Welfare, Social Work Research and Residential Treatment for Children and Youth. 

Ryan is committed to building strong university and public agency partnerships that utilize empirical evidence to advance knowledge and address critical questions in the fields of child welfare and juvenile justice.