Providing Mental Health Services to the Undocumented

Karla PerezSchool of Social WorkMay 2012

Introduction The numbers of deported Mexican immigrants has increased dramatically and the separation of family members is becaming the norm in many Mexican American households (Aleinkoff et al., 2001).

Suârez-Orozco, Todorova, & Louie (2002) found that children who were separated from their parents were more likely to report depressive symptoms than children who were not separated.

Vega, Rodriguez, & Ang (2009) stated that Latinos who are experiencing mental health problems tend to seek help from their primary care physicians.

The purpose of this project is to develop and fund a program that provides mental health services to undocumented parents and their children who have experienced separation as a result of immigration (or deportation).

The ultimate goal of this project will be to improve the psychological well-being of undocumented Latino families.

Social Work Relevance

The economic recession in the United States has resulted in various program budgets cuts. It is common for programs in the community to serve disenfranchised populations.

As part of the commitment to the profession, social workers are committed to not only providing direct-practice but also to getting involved with advocating for clients at a macro level and participating in fundraising efforts in order to establish and maintain programs and services for vulnerable populations. Grant writing is an essential skill for social workers to develop.

Cross-cultural Relevance

The rates of immigration and deportation continue to increase in the United States. This phenomenon highlights the importance of the need for mental health services for immigrant families.

It is imperative that social workers develop programs to meet the unique needs of immigrant families and that these services be provided in a culturally sensitive and linguistic manner.

Methods Target Population:

This project will provide mental health services to Latino undocumented families living in the Greater Los Angeles who (a) have experienced separation due to immigration or deportation; and (b) are currently experiencing mental health issues.

Strategies used to identify and select a funding source: Extensive research was conducted through varying resources at multiple levels, such as, local, state, and national. The Los Angeles Grantsmanship Center

(http://www.tgci.com/), Long Beach Nonprofit Partnership (http://www.lbnp.org/) in Long Beach (LBNP-LB), and the World Wide Web were all used to search for possible funders. Once the researcher compiled a list of potential funding sources, the final grant source was selected based on applicability to the target population and geographic area.

Identify the funding source selected: The California Wellness Foundation appeared to be the best fit for this project due to its funding goals and the fact that it has previously funded projects to the uninsured and undocumented in the Los Angeles area.

Methods Cont.Sources used for the needs assessment:

The need of mental health services among uninsured/undocumented families was recognized through the extensive literature review of previous studies focusing on the risk factors of the population. Sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov/), Immigration Policy Center (http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/), Department of Health and Human Services (http://www.hhs.gov/), Homeland Security and Office of Immigration Statistics (http://www.dhs.gov/files/statistics/) were used to demonstrate the severe need for mental health services among this population.

Projected budget range and categories:

It is estimated that $250,000 to $300,000 in grants will be necessary to fund a three-year project. The funds will be used to hire a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) who will provide mental health services, supervise unlicensed social workers and interns, and oversee the counseling program in general. Individual and group counseling sessions will be provided, in Spanish, to the undocumented, uninsured population.

Grant ProposalProgram Summary and Description:

The program will provide undocumented/uninsured individuals with mental health services including 10-12 individual and group therapy provided by LCSW, MSW and MSW interns. In addition, to intensive case management services provided by a BSW case manager, all therapeutic services provided will be evidence based and cultural sensitive to meet the needs of the target population. The services provided will be at no cost to undocumented/uninsured individuals.

Population Served: Undocumented families living in the Greater Los Angeles who (a) have experienced separation due to immigration or deportation; and (b) are currently experiencing mental health issues.

Sustainability: The program will continue to provided services through yearly fundraising events, corporate and foundation donations.

Grant Proposal Cont. Program Objectives:

Objective 1: Provide case management services to 300 undocumented individuals.

Objective 2: Provide mental health services to 300 undocumented individuals.

Objective 3:To improve the mental health well-being of 300 undocumented individuals.

Program Evaluation: Services will be measured by the number of individuals referred and the number of individuals who were interested in receiving community resources from the case manager.

To track of the number of patients referred for mental health and the total number of patients actually receiving mental health services a paper log and a computer database will be utilized.

The effectiveness of the services provided will be measured by the use of Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) for pre and post tests.

Lessons Learned/Implications for

Social Work Steps in grant writing include: 1) to identify an agency that is in need of program funding, 2) researching and determining what grant is in congruence with the proposed program, 3) the actual writing of the grant.

One of the major challenges in the grant writing process was identifying funding for programs that serve immigrant families. The current anti-immigrant climate in the United States has led foundations to be reluctant to advertise that they provide funding for undocumented families. Another challenge that the grant writer confronted was designing a budget that was affordable enough to obtain funding while meeting the goals of the program.

Grant writing is an essential skill for social workers to develop, particularly during this time of economic recession in the United States resulting in various program budgets cuts. It is imperative that social workers develop programs to meet the unique needs of immigrant families and that these services be provided in a culturally sensitive and linguistic manner.

References Aleinkoff, T.A., Martin, D. A., & Motomura, H. (2001). Immigration and nationality laws of the United States: Statutes, r egulations, and forms. St. Paul, MN: West Group.

 Clinica Monsenor Oscar A. Romero. (2009). Who we are. Retrieved from http://www.clinicaromero.com/about

 Department of Health and Human Services. (2001). Mental health: Culture, race, and ethnicity. A supplement to mental health: A report of the Surgeon General. Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services. U.S. Public Health Service.

 Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics. (2010). Yearbook of immigration statistics, Washington, DC: US Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics.

 Immigration Policy Center. (2010). In Communities-Fact Sheet. Retrieved from www.immigationpolicy.org/just-facts/secure.

 Suârez-Orozco, C., Todorova, I., & Louie, J. (2002). Making up for lost time: The experience of separation and reunification among immigrant families. Family Process, 41(4), 625.

 U. S. Census. (2005). U.S. Census 2005. Retrieved from www.census.gov

 Vega, W. A., Rodriguez, M. A., & Ang, A. (2009). Addressing stigma of depression in Latino primary care patients. Department of Family Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine, Westwood, CA.

Zuithoff, N. A., Vergouwe, Y., King, M., Nazareth, I., van Wezep, M. J., Moons, K. M., & Geerlings, M. I. (2010). The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 for detection of major depressive disorder in primary care: Consequences of current thresholds in a cross-sectional study. BMC Family Practice, 11 98-104. doi:10.1186/1471-2296-11-98