Unaccompanied Children in the Office of Refugee Resettlement Care

Unaccompanied children entering the United States are cared for in a variety of care provider settings across the country while they are in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). While in an ORR care provider program, children receive physical and mental health-care services, classroom education, social skills/recreation services, vocational training as appropriate, family unification services, access to legal support, and case management. The Mental and Behavioral Health Services Team was created in 2019 to provide oversight of the mental health of unaccompanied children in ORR care.

The role of acculturation and binge drinking on smoking status among Mexican Americans: Comparison by border residence

BACKGROUND

Border Mexican Americans (MA) are exposed to poverty and under-education, all of which are predictors of cigarette smoking.

METHODS

This study analyzed two epidemiologic surveys among border and non-border MA. In the border sample, interviews were conducted in urban areas of U.S.-Mexico border counties of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. The non-border sample consisted of respondents interviewed in Los Angeles, Houston, New York, Philadelphia, and Miami. Analyses were stratified by gender, adjusted for age and education, and modeled the effects of acculturation and binge drinking on cigarette smoking behavior.

RESULTS

There were 2595 respondents, 1307 residing in border counties and 1288 from 5 other cities. There was no difference in cigarette smoking in the past 12 months between border and non-border MA among men (25.8% vs. 29.4%) or women (9.4% vs. 9.9%), respectively. Acculturation was not significantly related with cigarette smoking among men; however, women with high acculturation levels were more marginally likely to be past year smokers than those with low acculturation (RRR = 2.06, 95% CI 0.97-4.78). Binge drinking was associated with being past year smoker in both men (RRR = 3.54, 95% CI = 2.31-5.42) and women (RRR = 2.23, 95% CI 1.17-4.27), but not with being a former smoker.

CONCLUSIONS

Border residence did not influence cigarette smoking behavior among Mexican Americans and both groups had significant associations between smoking and binge drinking.