E.g., 07/02/2023
E.g., 07/02/2023
Jonathan Beier
Experts & Staff
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Jonathan Beier

Policy Analyst

[email protected]
(202) 266-1931

Jonathan Beier is a Policy Analyst with MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy. He contributes to research design and methodology and conducts data and policy analysis on access to public benefits and services by immigrant groups including unaccompanied children, asylum seekers, refugees, mixed-status families, and unauthorized immigrants.

Media Requests
Michelle Mittelstadt
+1 202-266-1910
[email protected]

Prior to joining MPI, Dr. Beier served as an American Association for the Advancement of Science Congressional Science and Technology Policy Fellow on the Senate Finance Committee, managing immigration and human services portfolios with a focus on unaccompanied children. Previously, he was an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he directed a research lab studying social and cognitive development in early and middle childhood. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.

Dr. Beier holds a PhD in developmental psychology from Harvard University and a BS in symbolic systems from Stanford University.

Bio Page Tabs

A Path to Meeting Medical and Mental Health Needs of Unaccompanied Children
Reports
April 2023
A Path to Meeting the Medical and Mental Health Needs of Unaccompanied Children in U.S. Communities
By  Jonathan Beier and Karla Fredricks
Cover image for Four Strategies to Improve Community Services for Unaccompanied Children in the Unit
Policy Briefs
December 2022
Four Strategies to Improve Community Services for Unaccompanied Children in the United States
By  Jonathan Beier, Lauren Farwell, Rhonda Fleischer and Essey Workie
Image of the hands of two people at a desk going over paperwork
Commentaries
September 2022
The Public-Charge Final Rule Is Far from the Last Word
By  Jonathan Beier and Essey Workie

Recent Activity

Reports
April 2023

A Path to Meeting the Medical and Mental Health Needs of Unaccompanied Children in U.S. Communities

As the number of unaccompanied children entering U.S. communities has increased, many have faced barriers to accessing critical medical and mental health services. This report explores common barriers to care, promising practices for overcoming them, and strategies for strengthening services. It draws on interviews and focus groups with clinicians, social workers, and others working with this population as well as one-time unaccompanied children themselves.

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
September 2022

The Public-Charge Final Rule Is Far from the Last Word

The Biden administration public-charge final rule undoes deep restrictions imposed during the Trump era, codifying much of the policy in place from 1999 to 2019. Yet confusion and fear over triggering negative immigration consequences will continue to keep many immigrants and their U.S.-born relatives from accessing benefits and services for which they are eligible absent a robust educational campaign, this commentary explains.