The Promising Potential of Holistic Representation Models for Reducing Burnout and Supporting Attorney Retention

As of May 2025, there are nearly 3.5 million pending immigration cases moving through the United States immigration court system. While government-funded representation is not guaranteed for individuals in immigration proceedings, research consistently demonstrates that access to legal representation greatly increases the likelihood that immigrants are able to identify and pursue viable forms of legal relief, while also helping to ensure that due process rights are respected. However, representation rates among immigrants remain low overall, hovering around 40%. For unaccompanied children, a group identified as particularly vulnerable and in need of representation, representation rates are only somewhat better at 51%.   

A number of different factors affect the likelihood that immigrants will obtain legal representation. One of these factors is access to immigration attorneys who are able and willing to take on cases. However, there remains a significant undersupply of attorneys compared to immigrants in need of representation at all geographic scales—nationally and locally at the state and county levels. This undersupply is related to both the flow of individuals into the immigration legal services field through law school and fellowship programs and subsequent retention challenges.   

This report contributes to existing analyses of immigration attorney burnout by exploring the impact that holistic representation models may have on attorney well-being and retention in the field. It does so by drawing on data collected for a program evaluation of one holistic legal representation program for unaccompanied migrant children in the state of California—the Children’s Holistic Immigration Representation Project (CHIRP). Interview and survey data demonstrate that holistic representation models show promise for reducing attorney burnout and fostering retention in the field by: 

• reducing role strain experienced by attorneys when they do not have social service professionals available to support clients in addressing issues such as obtaining health care, accessing education or job-training programs, or acclimating to their new surroundings and communities; 

• ameliorating the mental strain and secondary trauma often experienced by attorneys serving vulnerable immigrant populations, including unaccompanied children, by ensuring that attorneys have social service staff trained in processing traumatic experiences that they can direct clients to; and 

• fostering the integration of trauma-informed practices throughout legal service organizations, in turn helping attorneys see the services they offer as supportive of and not  retraumatizing for their clients. 

In the current historical moment, when unprecedented resources are being directed at immigration enforcement and detention, cultivating the development and sustainability of a robust immigration legal services field is critical. Yet, sustaining and growing the field requires recognition of the emotionally and mentally draining nature of this work and concerted efforts to develop representation models that both effectively serve clients and support the retention of attorneys. This report demonstrates the promising potential holistic representation models have for creating workplaces that mitigate some of the common challenges facing free and low-cost immigration attorneys today. We encourage policy makers and funders to consider these findings when making decisions regarding funding allocations for immigrant legal services and to invest in holistic service models that are better positioned to effectively support clients while fostering workforce retention.