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The Unaccompanied Refugee Minor (URM) Foster Care Program annually serves about 1,300 foreign-born youth with legal eligibility. This paper shows results from a cross-sectional, descriptive pilot study (n = 30 interviews) in the domains of education, employment, health, mental health, risky behaviors, and social connections. Results show that most URM youth (86.7%) had graduated from high school, 50.0% were in college, and 86.7% were employed. Many youth (60%) reported being in optimal health, 76.7% were happy, and 96.7% had a positive outlook for the future. Most URMs (83.3%) had a best friend, and 70.0% had people to talk to when feeling low, however 76.7% (n = 23) worried about being abandoned. Additionally, one URM reported engaging in multiple risky behaviors. Comparisons are made to youth in foster care who were born in the United States and show for example, that URMs are enrolled in higher education and satisfied with foster care services at statistically significant higher rates-but that they are insured at significantly lower levels than domestic youth exiting foster care. Future research is needed to examine economic security for young adults who are refugees and immigrants. Longitudinal research is also needed to see how independent living skills are developed and utilized over time. URMs could benefit from some contact with case managers or foster care alumni after discharge.
The Unaccompanied Refugee Minor (URM) Foster Care Program is operated in collaboration between the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and the Department of State (DOS) and is administered through Lutheran Immigration Refugee Service (LIRS) and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), who oversee a total of 29 URM programs in 15 different states. The programs have staff and foster parents who are trained to work with youth who are foreign-born (USCCB, 2013), and provides culturally relevant services such as independent living skills training, English language training, assistance with immigration status, cultural activities, and intensive case management (ORR, 2018).
URM programs are licensed as child placement agencies (USCCB, 2013), and youth are under the care and custody of the local or state court system. Permanency planning is similar to domestic foster care in that the primary goal is to reunify children with their parents or relatives. Yet, such planning is often not possible for...