Immigration Statements - NADD Discuss2024-03-29T08:56:13Zhttps://sswnadd.ning.com/about-us/feed/allNADD Public Statement against Family Separation by United States Governmenthttps://sswnadd.ning.com/about-us/nadd-public-statement-against-family-separation-by-united-states-2019-03-22T15:56:23.000Z2019-03-22T15:56:23.000ZJonathon Hauserhttps://sswnadd.ning.com/members/JonathonHauser<div><div class="page" title="Page 1">
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<p>Public Statement against Family Separation by United States Government</p>
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<p>The National Association of Deans and Directors of Social Work Programs (NADD) is deeply concerned, outraged, and opposed to the May 7, 2018 “zero tolerance” immigration policy that has seized and separated over 2000 children from their asylum-seeking families. We join the National Association of Social Workers, the Council on Social Work Education, the United Nations, and countless professional and advocacy groups in condemning this practice, calling for the immediate reunification of detained immigrant children and their parents, and demanding an end to this draconian policy.</p>
<p>NADD represents over 200 graduate social work education programs throughout the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. Grounded in our Code of Ethics and its values of social justice and the importance of human relationships, a significant hallmark of the social work profession is its mission of service to all members of our community, particularly its most vulnerable children, and families. As mental health professionals and human rights advocates and researchers, we are acutely aware of the grave harm caused by separating children from their parents except in cases of imminent danger. The forcible separation of children from their families is unethical and abhorrent. It is un-American to force children who have done nothing wrong to suffer.</p>
<p>Since the implementation of this deterrent “zero tolerance” policy, children have been separated from their families, often by hundreds of miles, and are housed in inadequate facilities without the nurturing and care they so desperately need. The often life-long health and mental health consequences of traumatic parent-child separation have been established by decades of child welfare research, led by some of the nation’s top social work scholars and health scientists and funded by Federal agencies such as NIH. These painful family separations, the sensory deprivation experienced in detention centers, and the terrifying uncertainty for the future can result in post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues as well as sometimes irreversible biological and neurodevelopmental problems.</p>
<p>As noted by Juvonen and Silvers (Washington Post, May 15, 2018), it also violates international law. It is, by definition, torture. Under federal law, torture is “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental is intentionally inflicted for such purposes as...punishing him or her for an act he or she or a third person ...has committed.” Inflicting mental suffering on children to punish their parents, deter future immigrants, and leverage political action is a form of torture.</p>
<p>We call on Congress and the President to rescind this horrific policy. We also call on all social workers to add their voices to ours and write to their representatives asking that this policy end immediately. Also, we encourage all social workers to help address this humanitarian crisis by volunteering and/or donating to support advocacy and service for asylum-seeking immigrant children and families. Some resources for action include: <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/06/how-you-can-fight-family-separation-at-the-border.html">https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/06/how-you-can-fight-family-separation-at-the-border.html</a> <a href="http://caraprobono.org/volunteer/">http://caraprobono.org/volunteer/</a></p>
<p>There is no ethical reason to separate asylum-seeking parents from their children. It is inhumane to use children as political leverage or hostages to a political agenda. We must work together to find an immediate solution to this destructive practice. We are better than this.</p>
<p>Martell Teasley, Ph.D., MSW President, NADD</p>
<p>*This statement is the majority consensus of the membership and may not reflect the views of all programs in the organization.</p>
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<p>June 19, 2018</p>
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</div>University of Washington School of Social Workhttps://sswnadd.ning.com/about-us/university-of-washington-school-of-social-work2019-03-22T15:22:55.000Z2019-03-22T15:22:55.000ZJonathon Hauserhttps://sswnadd.ning.com/members/JonathonHauser<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}1567740910,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}1567740910,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="355" /></a></p>
<p>A call to end the separation of children from parents at U.S. border crossings</p>
<p><strong>An open letter from the University of Washington School of Social Work Leadership Team and the Faculty Council regarding the federal policy of separating immigrant families at U.S. border crossings</strong></p>
<p>The enduring and often lifelong health and mental health consequences of traumatic parent-child separation have been established by decades of child welfare research, led by some of the nation’s top social work scholars and health scientists. Much of this research has been funded through the National Institutes of Health and its National Institute of Mental Health, spurred by the humanitarian ethos that defines the highest purposes of our democracy. </p>
<p>During the past several months, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expanded the enforcement of our national immigration policy, including prosecuting all individuals crossing over our nation’s Southwestern border and referring all adults to the Department of Justice for adjudication. The result is that border enforcement officials are forcibly separating children from their parents, who are then arrested and incarcerated for suspected unlawful entry into the country.</p>
<p>These children are turned over to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for an indefinite and typically prolonged period in nonparental custodial care. This dire new national policy brings with it a range of extraordinarily detrimental consequences that will most likely be borne by the children of immigrants and refugees traumatized by forced removal from their parents. </p>
<p>As social workers who have a mission of serving all members of our community, we are taking a stand against this draconian policy that is a sharp departure from the nation’s previous immigration enforcement policy. That policy allowed detained parents—many of them refugees fleeing from violence in their home countries—to stay with and care for their children pending the outcome of their immigration cases.  </p>
<p>To ignore well-established, federally sponsored research, in favor of the dubious gains of a national policy that regards the willingness to inflict lifelong trauma on the children of immigrant families as a legitimate tool of border enforcement, is both unconscionable and a profound betrayal of the very values that define us as a nation. We believe this policy should be reversed immediately to avoid further trauma to hundreds, and potentially thousands, of innocent children and their families.</p>
<p>Read the statement from the <a href="https://www.socialworkers.org/news/news-releases/id/1654/nasw-says-plan-to-separate-undocumented-immigrant-children-from-their-parents-is-malicious-and-unconscionable">National Association of Social Workers</a>.</p>
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<p><a href="http://socialwork.uw.edu/news/call-end-separation-children-parents-us-border-crossings">An open letter from the University of Washington School of Social Work leadership team and the faculty council regarding the federal policy of separating immigrant families at U.S. border crossings</a></p>
</div>BU School of Social Workhttps://sswnadd.ning.com/about-us/bu-school-of-social-work2019-03-22T15:20:53.000Z2019-03-22T15:20:53.000ZJonathon Hauserhttps://sswnadd.ning.com/members/JonathonHauser<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}1567492565,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}1567492565,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="450" /></a></p>
<p>Dear Members of the BUSSW Community,</p>
<p>We are reaching out to our community to share our outrage at the unfolding national crisis of migrant family separation and ask you to work with us to identify ways we can respond. In the last six weeks, as a result of the Trump Administration’s Zero Tolerance policy, more than 2,000 children have been cruelly separated from their parents at the border. Reports, images, and audio from the camps and detention facilities where a rapidly growing number of children are being held in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services have ignited outrage nationally and internationally from advocates, individuals, and professional organizations.</p>
<p>Approximately 9,000 mental health professionals and almost 200 organizations signed a petition demanding that President Donald Trump rescind his executive order directing the removal of children from their parents, and it worked. But although he signed an executive order stopping the separation of families, the damage has been done…and it will continue. Under the Zero Tolerance policy, families legally seeking asylum may continue to be detained and criminally charged. Equally disturbing, we don’t know where all of the detained children have been sent and neither do their parents. We must demand accountability to locate the babies, young children, and missing children whose parents who have already been deported.</p>
<p>We view these actions as unconscionable. We believe, as social workers, that the Trump Zero Tolerance child separation policy constitutes criminal child abuse. It is an affront to human decency and morality and constitutes state-sponsored terrorizing of children and families.  We also know that as each hour of separation goes by, children’s bodies continue to be flooded with stress hormones, thus creating long-term, disastrous injury and trauma for both the children and families who are separated.</p>
<p>Decades of research tells us that traumatic and forced parent-child separation immediately and permanently affects children’s brain development, educational attainment, mental health functioning, and long-term health outcomes – detailed in this <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/05/15/separating-children-from-parents-at-the-border-isnt-just-cruel-its-torture/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.bc3a754d3850" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Washington Post story.</a> We also know that families seeking asylum are already traumatized from the circumstances that led to the migration and are exhausted by the journey to reach our borders. To forcibly separate families at this critical juncture is indefensible and inhumane.</p>
<p>As social workers, we devote our careers to pursuing social justice. Our <a href="https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NASW Code of Ethics</a> affirms social justice as a core principle of the profession.  Many of us know all too well the tragic history of state-sponsored family separation policy in this country. We cannot repeat those ugly chapters in our US history when we separated slave families, moved poor children across the country, removed American Indian children from their families, and interned Japanese American families.</p>
<p>At BUSSW, we are determined to mobilize our resources including expertise in trauma, immigrant and refugee communities,  and professional networks to intervene in this crisis. In the coming weeks, we will share more ideas and information as the situation unfolds.</p>
<p><strong>Ways You Can Help</strong></p>
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<li><a href="https://www.naswtx.org/news/405569/Resources-for-SW-regarding-ImmigrationDetention-at-the-Border.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Join the NASW Texas Chapter in Providing Support</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.socialworkblog.org/advocacy/2018/06/how-to-volunteer-to-help-immigrant-children-separated-from-family/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Volunteer Your Services</a></li>
<li><a href="https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/06/14/opinion/children-parents-asylum-immigration.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Take Action</a></li>
<li><a href="https://5calls.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Make Your Voice Heard with Five Calls</a></li>
<li>Join <a href="https://www.familiesbelongtogether.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Families Belong Together</a></li>
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<p>Jorge Delva<br />
Dean and Professor</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.bu.edu/ssw/bussw-dean-statement-on-migrant-family-separation-crisis">BUSSW Dean Statement on Migrant Family Separation Crisis</a></p>
</div>School of Social Work at Columbia Universityhttps://sswnadd.ning.com/about-us/school-of-social-work-at-columbia-university2019-03-22T15:17:47.000Z2019-03-22T15:17:47.000ZJonathon Hauserhttps://sswnadd.ning.com/members/JonathonHauser<div><p> </p>
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<p>Dear CSSW Community,</p>
<p>In recent weeks, we have witnessed the dire consequences of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy. Social workers are acutely aware of the harm done to children when they are separated from their parents. The scientific evidence of the ill effects of separation is overwhelming, which is why social workers make every effort to keep children with their parents whenever possible.</p>
<p>It is immoral to separate children from their parents in order to send a message, whether to Congress or to other potential asylum seekers. To do so treats children as pawns. Yesterday, in response to widespread condemnation from social workers, pediatricians, psychologists, religious leaders, and elected officials across the country, President Trump signed an executive order halting, at least temporarily, this odious practice.</p>
<p>At this point we don’t know whether the administration will re-unite the families it has torn apart, whether it will address the trauma it has inflicted on these people, how it will reconcile “zero tolerance” with keeping families intact, or how it plans to detain immigrants indefinitely while respecting their human rights. We do know that the Trump Administration is using racist and xenophobic appeals to fuel anti-immigrant sentiment and build support to restrict immigration. As social workers, we must steer the conversation away from these bigoted appeals towards an evidence-based discussion of immigration policy. The recent National Academy of Science study of immigration is a good place to start.</p>
<p>In the past few days, I’ve found hope in the advocacy of social workers. The NASW wrote a letter of opposition to these policies three weeks ago, and last week, University of Houston Dean Alan Dettlaff circulated a letter he wrote to his school among the National Association of Deans and Directors (NADD). His letter stimulated Social Work Deans and directors all over the country to support a NADD open letter decrying the administration’s policy. This outpouring of support provides a small source of hope in these troubling times. Many people are speaking out for justice, and their voices should encourage all of us to take a stand.</p>
<p>At the Columbia School of Social Work, we honor evidence and human rights and take action against injustice. I encourage you to raise your voice however you are able: whether by marching in solidarity on June 30th, calling your representatives, putting pen to paper, donating to organizations providing direct services, or reaching out to those who are directly affected by the Trump administration immigration policy. These actions, however small, can make a difference for our neighbors and change the direction of our society.</p>
<p>Sincerely,</p>
<p>Irwin Garfinkel</p>
<p>Mitchell I. Ginsberg</p>
<p>Professor of Contemporary Urban Problems, Interim Dean School of Social Work</p>
<p>Columbia University</p>
<p><a href="http://www.naddssw.org/pages/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Statement-From-Irwin-Garfinkel-on.pdf">Statement from the Dean of School of Social Work at Columbia University</a></p>
</div>Rutgers School of Social Work on Treatment of Children and Families at the Borderhttps://sswnadd.ning.com/about-us/rutgers-school-of-social-work-on-treatment-of-children-and-famili2019-03-22T15:10:29.000Z2019-03-22T15:10:29.000ZJonathon Hauserhttps://sswnadd.ning.com/members/JonathonHauser<div><div class="news-header"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}1567426197,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}1567426197,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="450" /></a></div>
<div class="news-header">A Message from the Dean on Treatment of Children and Families at the Border</div>
<p><span class="date-display-single">June 21, 2018</span></p>
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<p>Fellow Social Workers,</p>
<p>As a school of social work, we don’t often talk “politics” but we do always  talk “policy.”   We have all become aware of the mounting crisis created by the new policy of separation of children from their parents at the border.  Although the President yesterday signed an Executive Order halting one piece of the current policy, many questions remain.  As of today, it appears that those children who have been separated from their families will not be reunified in any timely manner, and it is unclear how the current federal court order limiting detention of children will be managed as families enter detention. Some, both in and out of government, have observed that many families may never be reunified.  It is important that our concerns for these separated children and families not fade into the background as events unfold.</p>
<p>Let me be very clear, the policy of separating families is not congruent with the ethics of our profession nor with what we know about the effects of separation on children and their parents.  As Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) has said:</p>
<div class="description rteindent1">What the administration has decided to do is separate children from their parents to try and send a message that if you cross the border with your children, your children are going to be ripped away from you.  That is traumatizing to the children who are innocent victims, and it is contrary to our values in this country.</div>
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<div class="description">Many of these families are escaping from trauma, abuse and war.  Those who seek asylum at our borders are not breaking any law; indeed, our law protects the asylum-seeker.  As social workers, we know the effects of separation on children and on their families.  These effects are well discussed by researchers from the<a href="https://socialwork.rutgers.edu/centers/institute-families/office-research-and-evaluation/child-welfare-and-well-%C2%ADbeing-research-unit"> Rutgers Child Welfare and Well-Being Research Unit</a> and colleagues in a <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMp1703375" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent piece in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em></a>. As the authors’ note:</div>
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<div class="description rteindent1">The effects of traumatic experiences - especially in children who have already faced serious adversity – are unlikely to be short lived: cumulative adversity can last a lifetime.</div>
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<div class="description">As a former child welfare worker, I am painfully aware of these effects, and know that our child welfare practice models advise us to only separate families in the instance where the child’s safety is at risk.  This is because we are always weighing one great harm against another.  It is tragic that our current policy would force separation when parents’ actions are aimed at providing safety for their children.  Many have used the word traumatizing to describe the effects on children.  The deliberate infliction of trauma on innocents can only be seen as torture, and is unworthy of us as Americans.</div>
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<div class="description"><strong>Here at the School of Social Work, we call on our government to immediately act to reunify families affected by these policies.</strong></div>
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<div class="description"><strong>We call also on our elected officials to pass legislation that will prevent both family separation and prolonged detention of families.</strong></div>
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<div class="description">I hope you will allow me a personal observation. In the past weeks, I have been confronted in multiple ways with the same question, “What is required of us?”  In all of our lives, there is an answer to this question, based on personal and professional ethics.  This is a time for each of us to consider what is required of us as social workers and as Americans.</div>
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<div class="description">Below, you will find some links to a few statements and to a few ways one might choose to act.  Please feel free to add additional resources through comments on social media.  I am well aware that this is a conversation for our country. As social workers, let us bring our professional knowledge and ethics, and our personal judgments, as we enjoin the conversation, the policy imperatives, and the social work responses.</div>
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<div class="description">Cathryn Potter</div>
<p>Dean and Distinguished Professor<br />
Rutgers School of Social Work</p>
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<p><a href="https://socialwork.rutgers.edu/news-events/news/message-dean-treatment-children-and-families-border">Message from the Dean of Rutgers School of Social Work on Treatment of Children and Families at the Border</a></p>
</div>National Academies of Science Education and Medicine (NASEM)https://sswnadd.ning.com/about-us/statement-from-the-national-academies-of-science-education-and-me2019-03-21T18:24:21.000Z2019-03-21T18:24:21.000ZJonathon Hauserhttps://sswnadd.ning.com/members/JonathonHauser<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}1539856006,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}1539856006,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="416" /></a></p>
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<p><a href="http://nationalacademies.org/newsroom/index.html">Statement from the National Academies of Science Education and Medicine (NASEM)<br /></a> <a href="http://nationalacademies.org/newsroom/index.html">http://nationalacademies.org/newsroom/index.html</a></p>
</div>The Catholic University of Americahttps://sswnadd.ning.com/about-us/letter-from-the-catholic-university-of-america2019-03-21T18:13:12.000Z2019-03-21T18:13:12.000ZJonathon Hauserhttps://sswnadd.ning.com/members/JonathonHauser<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}1539449227,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}1539449227,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="250" /></a>National Catholic School of Social Service Office of the Dean</p>
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<p>Dear NCSSS Community, June 18, 2018</p>
<p>More than 2500 migrant children have been taken from their parents at the USsouthern border as a result of President Trump’s efforts to deter parents fromcrossing into the United States without proper documentation. As Dr. Eileen Dombo and Professor Randall O’Toole, who are faculty experts on trauma and abuse, note, the psychological harm being done to these children is lasting and severe. Without immediate relief and intervention, the children are at increased risk for developing future attachment-related emotional and behavioral difficulties. Regardless of where one stands on the politics of immigration, the reckless abuse and neglect of children as punishment of their parents is repugnant!</p>
<p>As Dean of the National Catholic School of Social Service, I am officially joining our school to the protestation of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, whose members have condemned the practice of breaking apart families and separately detainingmigrant children. As the USCCB declared, “Separating babies from their mothers isnot the answer, and it’s immoral!” The practice of punishing parents by separately detaining their children is a violation of the sanctity of life and threatens the unity of the family. Further, it is an affront to the common good of our nation, and anathema to the democratic values on which this nation is founded.</p>
<p>I call on the NCSSS community to act urgently to end the separation of migrant children from their families.</p>
<p>I urge you to call your elected officials, write letters and op-eds to your local newspapers, and attend events in your community in solidarity with migrant</p>
<p>families. We must act now to end the separation and detention of migrant children! Very truly,</p>
<p>Will C. Rainford</p>
<p>Will C. Rainford, MSW, PhD<br />
Dean, National Catholic School of Social Service</p>
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<p>As Dr. Linda Plitt Donaldson teaches her social policy</p>
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<p>students, “social workers must act with two feet of love; one foot steps forward to</p>
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<p>meet the immediate needs of people, and the other foot steps forward to act with</p>
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<p>justice, and in solidarity with people who are harmed by social policy decisions.”</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.naddssw.org/pages/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/NCSSS-Letter-on-Migrant-Children.pdf">Letter from the Catholic University of America (PDF)</a></p>
</div>Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve Universityhttps://sswnadd.ning.com/about-us/statement-from-mandel-school-of-applied-social-sciences-at-case-w2019-03-21T18:09:08.000Z2019-03-21T18:09:08.000ZJonathon Hauserhttps://sswnadd.ning.com/members/JonathonHauser<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}1539406838,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}1539406838,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="272" /></a></p>
<p>The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University joins our social work colleagues at the state and national levels in expressing our deep concern over the policies that are being implemented by the Department of Justice, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Border Patrol regarding forcibly separating parents and children who arrive at our borders seeking refuge. This reprehensible practice is counter to the values and ethics of the social work profession, and of our School.</p>
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<p>As a school of social work and nonprofit management, we are well aware of the impact that trauma has on individuals, families, and communities. We also know that many of the immigrant families crossing our borders are seeking refuge or asylum from atrocities and unlivable circumstances in their home countries. The practice of separating children from their families compounds their traumas, causes irreparable damage, and is a violation of human rights. In addition to the harm caused to the children and their family, these practices will have long-term consequences on our society and inevitably increase the burden to public services and taxpayers.</p>
<p>This practice has been condemned by multiple human rights organizations, including the United Nations, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Human Rights Watch as well as by our social work colleagues including those at the Council on Social Work Education and National Association of Social Workers. We add our voice to those of our colleagues in urging our elected officials to take action to end these abhorrent practices.</p>
<p>Grover C. Gilmore, Ph.D.<br />
Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Dean in Applied Social Sciences </p>
<p><a href="http://www.naddssw.org/pages/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Mandel-School-Statement-on-Child-Welfare-6-15-18.pdf">Statement from Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University (PDF)</a></p>
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