Report: Separating families can yield lasting trauma
Reuniting families can reduce the harm caused by forced separations, but the harmful effects can be long-lasting to both child and parent, an advocacy group warned in a report released Wednesday.
Pivoting off work to reunify families separated at the U.S. border because of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, the Center for American Progress cautioned that keeping families together, but in detention, is not a healthy alternative.
“Beyond being cruel and inhumane, research has confirmed that children forced to spend time behind bars — enduring the trauma, stress, and uncertainty of detainment — see lasting consequences, even if they are with their parents,” the report concludes.
The report cites research studies and testimony presented in federal court as part of a 2016 motion to enforce the “Flores policy.” That policy says migrant children should be placed with a relative or family friend, and that children who are detained be kept in the least restrictive environment possible.
The report dovetails with the message from a nationally known psychiatrist about the effects of negative childhood experiences on a child’s brain development. These have a profound effect on kids in foster care, in adoptive situations and those who remain with their families, said Dr. Bruce Perry of the Houston-based Child Trauma Academy.
Speaking to a gathering of Arizona child-welfare officials, policy makers and health professionals, Perry said a stress response kicks in when children are exposed to stressful environments.
This shuts down parts of the brain and limits the child’s ability to process the words they hear, Perry told the gathering via a teleconference hosted by Arizona’s Children Association.
“This is the beginning of the achievement gap,” he said. It’s a gap that, left unaddressed, can widen into escalating health and behavioral health costs.
“These kids wind up costing easily $800,000 to $1 million a year,” Perry said. That’s because many of these children end up with repeated hospitalizations, involvement with the juvenile justice system or personal property damage, he said.
Although the talk was not directed at the trauma migrant children experience, the message is the same, said Dr. Mark Shen, the chief clinical services officer for the Arizona Children’s Association.
Trauma and adverse experiences can profoundly and negatively affect attachment between a parent and a child, Shen said.
The report released Wednesday echoes that. “As they grow up, many children who experience toxic stress are less able to regulate their emotions and cope with everyday instances of stress, putting them at increased risk for cognitive impairments and stressrelated physical and mental illness later in life,” the report states, pointing to research from the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child.
Parents in detention also are not immune from such detrimental effects, the report states.
It advocates for a less restrictive policy toward families who entered the U.S. illegally or who are awaiting asylum hearings.
Intensive supervision, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement used to do, has a proven track record of families complying with court dates and mandatory check-ins. And it costs far less, about 10 percent of the price tag for confining families in a detention center, the report states, citing figures from ICE’s family case-management program.
For all the grim consequences of children being exposed to stress-inducing circumstances, the good news is those negative effects can be addressed with the right intervention, Shen said.
“Experiences in a child’s upbringing, whether traumatic or not, influence who you are,” Shen said. If groups such as his can help people understand that, the chances of children growing into healthy adults are greatly increased, he said.
For children exhibiting the effects of negative experiences, there are therapies that help retrain the brain to better cope with life, Shen and Perry said.
But those remedies do not come in a one-size-fitsall package. It’s important to understand each child’s needs and develop appropriate therapies, they said.