Access to Mental Health Care for Adolescent Undocumented Immigrants

In January 2012 an estimated 11.43 million unlawful immigrants resided in the United States (Baker & Rytina, n.d.) and in 2014 the number declined to an estimated 10.9 million (Warren, 2016). Yet, even with the number of undocumented immigrants steadily decreasing, there are still a number of significant issues surrounding employment, education and health care facing this population. It has been well established that undocumented immigrants have limited access to health insurance (“Health Coverage,” n.d.). While many have access to general medical one type of care specifically remains elusive: mental health care services. It is difficult for undocumented immigrants to gain health insurance as they are not eligible to buy Marketplace health coverage and do not benefit under the affordable care act and so there is a general lack of use of mental health services. In general, undocumented immigrants are prone to mental health disorders due to the stress of their status, this is especially true for teenagers. The limited access to mental health services is severely detrimental to the well being of undocumented teens for whom mental health care is vital. The purpose of this review is to find what factors that limit access to mental health care services for undocumented teenagers are and what is the effect of this limited access. Ultimately the goal is to understand what are the barriers preventing undocumented adolescents from seeking the help they need and then use this knowledge to recommend local and then national solutions.