Children & Family Policy

Children of immigrants are the fastest growing component of the U.S. child population, representing 24 percent of all U.S. children. Immigrant families in the United States are concentrated at the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum. Thus, policies that advantage or disadvantage families in general and low-income families with children in particular, such as early schooling, family literacy, and day care will have far-reaching impacts. At the same time, policies affecting families will increasingly be judged by their effects on the health, well-being, and school readiness and success of immigrant children.

Recent Activity

Policy Briefs October 2020 Supporting Immigrant and Refugee Families through Home Visiting: Innovative State and Local Approaches By Caitlin Katsiaficas	Multimedia September 29, 2020 Centering English Learners in Schools’ Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Policy Briefs September 2020 Educating English Learners during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Policy Ideas for States and School Districts By Julie Sugarman and Melissa Lazarin	Multimedia June 16, 2020 Addressing Equity Concerns for English Learners: Where Do Native Language Assessments Fit In?
Commentaries June 2020 COVID-19 Spotlights the Inequities Facing English Learner Students, as Nonprofit Organizations Seek to Mitigate Challenges By Melissa Lazarin	Reports May 2020 European Cities on the Front Line: New and Emerging Governance Models for Migrant Inclusion By Liam Patuzzi
Multimedia March 5, 2020 Green Cards and Public Charge: Who Could Be Denied Based on Benefits Use?	Commentaries March 2020 The Public-Charge Rule: Broad Impacts, But Few Will Be Denied Green Cards Based on Actual Benefits Use By Randy Capps, Julia Gelatt and Mark Greenberg

Pages

Reports November 2016 Serving Immigrant Families Through Two-Generation Programs: Identifying Family Needs and Responsive Program Approaches By Maki Park, Margie McHugh and Caitlin Katsiaficas	Reports November 2016 A Study of Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes among African-Born Women Living in Utah By Jane M. Dyer and Laurie Baksh
Reports November 2016 The Nutritional Health of Young Refugee Children Resettling in Washington State By Elizabeth Dawson-Hahn, Suzinne Pak-Gorstein, Andrea J. Hoopes and Jasmine Matheson	Reports October 2016 Mental Health Risks and Resilience among Somali and Bhutanese Refugee Parents By B. Heidi Ellis, Erin N. Hulland , Alisa B. Miller, Colleen Barrett Bixby, Barbara Lopes Cardozo and Theresa S. Betancourt
Reports August 2016 Funding an Equitable Education for English Learners in the United States By Julie Sugarman	Policy Briefs August 2016 DACA at Four: Participation in the Deferred Action Program and Impacts on Recipients By Faye Hipsman, Bárbara Gómez-Aguiñaga and Randy Capps
Reports March 2016 Challenges in Accessing Early Childhood Education and Care for Children in Refugee Families in Massachusetts By Jeff Gross and Christine Ntagengwa	Reports March 2016 Young Children of Refugees in the United States: Integration Successes and Challenges By Kate Hooper, Jie Zong, Randy Capps and Michael Fix

Pages

Video, Audio

October 12, 2017

Are States Recognizing and Responding to the Needs of Their Dual Language Learner Children?

Dual Language Learners (DLLs) now make up nearly one-third of all children ages 8 and under in the United States, and on this webinar, MPI analysts outline key findings from a national demographic and policy profile and series of state fact sheets highlighting characteristics of the growing DLL population and the policy context they encounter in state early childhood education and care (ECEC) systems. Panelist discuss the implications for the ECEC programs and systems that seek to provide equitable access and quality for DLLs, and highlight California's response to the growing population of DLLs in the ECEC system.

Video, Audio

September 25, 2017

14th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

In a year when immigration has been prominent in the headlines, the 14th annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference provides timely policy and legal analysis, with expert discussion covering the shifting immigration policy priorities under a new administration, including changes in immigration enforcement, border enforcement, refugee resettlement, the treatment of unaccompanied minors and the

Flickr Katelyn Brown and 3 ell students at Vaile rcs aprill 2014

Video, Audio

March 9, 2017

Strategic Opportunities for Including English Learners in ESSA State Accountability Plans

This discussion focuses on practices and options that states could adopt to hold schools accountable for English Learners’ achievement in the fairest and most accurate manner as part of the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act. This webinar marks the release of a set of 13 state fact sheets, available on MPI's web page English Learners and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), that provide a sketch of EL demographics, student outcomes, and accountability mechanisms under ESSA and its predecessor.

EVENT PH 2016.1.27 Event Photo Brannon, Graham, Meissner

Video, Audio

January 27, 2017

Hanging in the Balance: The Future of DACA and the Dreamers

As the Trump administration assumes office and the DACA program faces an uncertain future, University of California President Janet Napolitano; Donald Graham, cofounder of TheDream.Us; and Ike Brannon, Visiting Fellow at the CATO Institute join MPI's Doris Meissner for a discussion on the possible impacts of rescinding DACA, particularly in the areas of higher education, philanthropy, and the economy.

Video, Audio

August 25, 2016

Closing the Gap? The Role of Funding in Equitable Education for English Learners in the United States

This webinar explores the key education funding mechanisms in place to support English Learner elementary and secondary students in the United States, public conversations about funding, and efforts to improve the equitable distribution of educational resources.

Recent Activity

Reports

March 2023

Migration, Integration, and Diaspora Engagement in the Caribbean: A Policy Review

Although Caribbean migration is often discussed in terms of movement to North America and Europe, migration within the region has increased notably in recent years. With people on the move for work or study, to join family, and to seek safety from natural disasters or persecution, this mobility takes many forms. This report explores Caribbean migration trends and the policies and institutions put in place at national and regional levels to manage them.

Policy Briefs

March 2023

SNAP Access and Participation in U.S.-Born and Immigrant Households: A Data Profile

The U.S. government created the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps, to combat food insecurity. Under federal law, many lawfully present noncitizens in poor households are ineligible. This issue brief examines the size and characteristics of the population of immigrants with incomes low enough to qualify for SNAP and their eligibility for and participation in the program, at U.S. and state levels.

Policy Briefs

December 2022

Four Strategies to Improve Community Services for Unaccompanied Children in the United States

For unaccompanied children leaving federal custody to live with parents or other sponsors, the transition into U.S. communities can be a difficult one. And although a patchwork of services exist to help these children and to address medical, mental health, and other needs, their capacity varies widely by location. This issue brief explores promising practices for improving these critical forms of support.

Commentaries

November 2022

Apprenticeship Programs Are a Promising Solution to Bring More Multilingual Workers into Early Childhood Field

Shortages of workers continue to plague early childhood education and care (ECEC) systems across the United States. With the field already struggling to effectively serve young children in families that speak languages other than English, apprenticeship programs offer a promising solution to bring more—and more multilingual—workers into early childhood careers.

Video, Audio, Webinars

October 12, 2022

Ensuring Effective Language Access Services and Policies in Early Childhood Programs

Language access policies and services are critical to promoting the equitable participation of Dual Language Learners and their families in early childhood programs, yet there are persisting participation gaps. This webinar outlines federal and state efforts to implement language access policies in the early childhood field, along with opportunities to improve language services.

Fact Sheets

October 2022

Dual Language Learners: Key Characteristics and Considerations for Early Childhood Programs

How many Dual Language Learner (DLL) children live in your state, and what share do they comprise of all children under age 5? What languages are most commonly spoken in their households? Answers to these and other questions that are critical to the design and implementation of early childhood programs that reach all children equitably are presented in a series of state-level data fact sheets.

Policy Briefs

October 2022

Overlooked but Essential: Language Access in Early Childhood Programs

Dual Language Learners (DLLs)—young children with a parent who speaks a language other than English at home—benefit greatly from early childhood programs, but they also enroll at lower rates than their peers. This policy brief looks at federal and state language access policies that aim to make such programs more accessible to DLLs’ families. It also examines persistent gaps in participation and ways to address them.

Policy Briefs

June 2022

Immigrant Children’s Medicaid and CHIP Access and Participation: A Data Profile

Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program help many children in low-income families access health care. But under federal rules, hundreds of thousands of children are ineligible due to immigration status. This brief presents U.S. and state-level estimates of immigrant children who are eligible for and participate in these programs and considers the impact of state policies that expand access to public health insurance.

Programs

Topics see all >

Regions see all >

Data

Featured Publication

Programs

You are here

Children & Family Policy

Recent Activity

Pages

Pages

Pages

Recent Activity

Pages