Shorter time-lines, yet higher hurdles: Mexican families' access to child welfare mandated services

This paper aims to understand the paths to mandated services experienced by Mexican families who have a recent history of immigration from the perspective of child welfare workers. Sixty to 90 minute in-person semi-structured interviews were completed with 14 child welfare workers. Grounded theory methods were used to complete the content analysis. The findings indicate that families experience different paths to services based on their documentation status and language abilities. Undocumented and non-English speaking families experience numerous barriers to services; thus potentially impacting their ability to comply with court or department mandates. In addition, the worker's and family's knowledge of systems of care played a critical role in families' experiences. Workers are more positively disposed toward compliant parents. Implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed.