Supporting Mental Health and Wellbeing: Immigrant Children and Families in Early Care and Education Settings
This research-informed brief focuses on establishing a healthy mental health climate that is responsive to children’s and staff’s needs and provides practical recommendations for program leaders, including center-based and home-based child care providers, early childhood educators, and mental health coaches, consultants, and other professionals who support frontline staff. We also briefly review programmatic policies and procedures that contribute to children’s feelings of safety, families’ trust, and workforce preparedness, each of which may also impact children, families and staff mental health.
Supporting Immigrant Children’s Mental Health in Early Care and Education
Early care and education programs can play an important role in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of immigrant children and families. Immigration-related stressors—including uncertainty, family separation, discrimination, fear, loss, and changes in caregiving relationships—can affect young children’s emotional wellbeing, behavior, learning, and sense of safety.
Because early childhood is a critical period for social, emotional, and developmental growth, educators and early childhood programs can help create environments where children feel safe, supported, and connected. Trauma-informed and culturally responsive practices can also help programs strengthen relationships with immigrant families and respond appropriately to children experiencing heightened stress.
What This Resource Covers
This research-informed brief provides practical guidance for early childhood educators, program leaders, child care providers, mental health consultants, coaches, and other professionals working with young children and families. Recommendations include strategies for:
- Creating supportive and emotionally responsive early learning environments
- Strengthening children’s social and emotional development
- Helping children identify, express, and manage emotions
- Building trusting relationships with immigrant children and families
- Supporting educators and early childhood staff experiencing stress
- Reviewing program policies and procedures that influence family trust, safety, and wellbeing
The goal is to help early care and education programs create environments that support the mental health and wellbeing of children, families, and the professionals who care for them.
Suggested citation:
Blevins, D., Palomino, C., Aponte, G., Powell, T., Gordon, L., Meek, S., Soto-Boykin, X., Park, M., Catherine, E., Bucher, E., Oppenheim, J., Horen, N. (April, 2025). Supporting Mental Health and Wellbeing: Immigrant Children and Families in Early Care and Education Settings. The Children’s Equity Project at Arizona State University. https://cep.asu.edu/resources/SupportingImmigrantChildrenandFamilies.
Frequently Asked Questions About Supporting Immigrant Children and Families
Immigration-related stress, fear of deportation, detention, and family separation can affect young children’s mental health and development. Children may experience fear, grief, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, withdrawal, self-isolation, hitting, screaming, crying, disrupted sleep or eating, and developmental regression. Infants may become more difficult to soothe, toddlers may become more clingy, and older children may express or reenact stressful experiences through play, conversation, or drawings.
Early care and education programs can support immigrant children and families by creating safe, welcoming, predictable environments; establishing policies and procedures for emergencies; addressing children’s, families’, and staff members’ mental health needs; connecting families with community resources; and building trusting relationships. The report emphasizes developmentally appropriate, trauma-informed practices and strong relationships as essential supports during periods of immigration-related uncertainty and stress.
Signs may include increased crying, screaming or hitting; anxiety or fear; withdrawal from peers; avoiding people or places; changes in eating or sleeping; clinginess; difficulty being soothed; developmental regression; and changes in play. Children may also reenact or draw stressful experiences. The report emphasizes that responses can look different depending on the child’s age, development, experiences, and cultural context.
Programs can establish clear policies and protocols designed to protect children, families, and staff and help families understand what will happen during an emergency or immigration-related situation. CEP recommends planning for emergency contacts and alternative caregivers, establishing procedures for interacting with visitors or immigration agents, communicating policies and resources in families’ languages, and developing partnerships with immigrant-focused community organizations.
CEP recommends that program leaders create multidisciplinary rapid-response teams that can help families access legal assistance, economic support, translators, mental health services, developmental and educational resources, food, clothing, and housing assistance. Programs can also designate an immigration liaison who understands program protocols, stays informed about the policy landscape, and connects families and educators with trusted community resources.
Educators can provide children with stable routines, warm relationships, reassurance, and opportunities to express their emotions through conversation, drawing, painting, play, and other developmentally appropriate activities. CEP recommends validating children’s emotions, providing spaces for emotional regulation, using books and social stories to help children understand grief and loss, and maintaining consistent classroom routines that provide safety and normalcy.
Mental health consultants, behavioral specialists, social workers, psychologists, therapists, counselors, and other professionals can help early childhood programs address immigration-related stress and trauma. CEP recommends partnerships with culturally responsive providers who understand child development and immigration-related stress, speak the languages of children and families when possible, and can provide screening, consultation, treatment, training, and other supports.
Supporting educators is an important part of supporting children. Early childhood professionals may experience stress, anxiety, depression, emotional exhaustion, or secondary traumatic stress when caring for children and families experiencing trauma. CEP recommends addressing underlying working conditions through fair compensation and benefits, appropriate ratios and group sizes, healthy work environments, access to mental health resources, and other supports that strengthen workforce well-being and educators’ ability to provide responsive care.
Children with disabilities or developmental delays may need additional support to understand stressful situations, changes in routine, or family separation and to communicate how they are feeling. CEP recommends strategies such as social stories, visual schedules, communication boards, visual cards, and collaboration with professionals such as speech-language pathologists. Supports should be accessible in the languages children and families use and should be practiced with families so they know how to use them when needed.