Program Evaluation: Children’s Holistic Immigration Representation Project

Acacia conducted a mixed-methods program evaluation to answer the following questions:  

1. To what degree did the program expand access to holistic immigration legal services for unaccompanied children in California?  
2. What is the impact of the program within subgrantee organizations?  
3. What is the impact of the program on client experiences?  
4. What are the facilitators and barriers/challenges to program implementation?  
5. What factors affect the transferability, scalability, and sustainability of the program model?  

The evaluation answers these questions using three data sources 1) quantitative data on services rendered, which is submitted by subgrantees into a secure database; 2) qualitative data obtained through individual and group interviews; and 3) qualitative and quantitative data collected via an electronic survey distributed in August 2024 focusing on the experiences and perspectives of CHIRP staff. Thirty-one unique individuals (29 CHIRP staff and 2 program administrators) participated in interviews and 46 individuals responded to the culminating survey. Due to time constraints and ethical considerations, data was not collected directly from the children served. Rather, information on the impact the project had on client experiences and services rendered was obtained from direct service providers.   

• The project is successful at increasing unaccompanied children’s access to holistic legal representation. Nearly 700 unique children from 26 counties received holistic legal representation between September 2022 and August 2024. The project also served as a gateway for 8 legal service providers to integrate social services into their organizations for the first time and for 8 additional organizations to deepen the way in which social and legal services are integrated. Providers additionally shared that access to additional funding streams to support this work is extremely limited, highlighting the foundational role CDSS plays in providing unaccompanied children access to holistic legal representation. 
• The project increases the degree to which trauma informed practices are integrated into the everyday practices and policies of participating legal service providers (LSPs), while also having a positive impact on the work life of LSP staff. This suggests that the project not only improves the way in which clients are engaged and supported by LSPs, but also that it supports staff experiences and retention in the field.   
• CHIRP increases children’s access to a greater range of services and deepens the amount of support they receive by ensuring that social and legal service staff are equally supported and able to focus on the roles most appropriate to their training and expertise.  
• The project improves the quality of legal representation children received and allows social service staff to follow-up with children more frequently to ensure they are able to access needed services and have the support needed to navigate challenges as they arose. 
• CHIRP increases children’s access to trusted adults who they can turn to for support when challenges arise, while also supporting youth’s integration into their sponsor’s homes and the larger community.  
• CHIRP improves client engagement and fosters agency among children served, improving the degree to which they are actively engaged in their cases and equipping them to advocate for themselves in their legal cases and lives more broadly.   

Evaluation data indicates that CHIRP is successful at achieving its goal of increasing unaccompanied children’s access to holistic legal representation, while also positively impacting immigrant legal service provider organizations and staff and improving the quality of services rendered. As CDSS considers sustaining or expanding the project, key factors that should be considered include:  

• Workforce Development Challenges: Hiring both social service and legal service staff proved to be challenging and is reflective of the overarching context of workforce development in these 3 fields nationally and in the state of California in particular. This context should be considered when making decisions regarding salary ranges, fundable labor categories, and if funding is distributed through temporary/time-limited or permanent funding mechanisms. 
• Supervisory and Support Staff: The delivery of holistic legal services relies upon adequate training, supervision, and support. CDSS should consider the foundational role these individuals play in ensuring high quality service delivery when developing programmatic and funding guidelines. 
• Technical Assistance: Providers noted the key role technical assistance, such as facilitated processing groups, and other supports, such as the external clinical supervisor for social workers working towards licensure, played in shaping their interest in participating in the project and successful implementation. If CHIRP is sustained or expanded, robust technical assistance should continue to be funded and provided to support the entry of new organizations into this model of service delivery and client support. 
• Case Length, Caseload Management, and Quality Service Delivery: The extensive backlog in the US immigration system results in significant delays for children’s cases to be adjudicated and finalized. Ensuring children have access to holistic legal services during the full lifecycle of the case is critical. At the same time, case length combined with the high number of children in need of holistic legal services necessitates an evaluation of the degree to which holistic teams can take on new cases while older cases are pending; all while ensuring the continued delivery of high quality services and avoiding staff burnout. More research is needed to understand different models of caseload management and the impact they have on services delivered, clients, and staff.