Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics Initiative Fellow, Katherine Peeler, recently contributed a new report released by the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights in conjunction with the RAICES, the Massachusetts General Center for Global Health and the Harvard Global Health Institute detailing the provision of pediatric medical care in an immigration detention facility.

This study, analyzing 165 medical records of detained immigrant children, found inadequate access to health care and inappropriate management of acute medical and mental health care. 

• Children were detained for a median of 43 days with 88% of children remaining in detention for longer than 20 days
• There was an overall inadequacy in the documentation of clinical reasoning leading fragmented and inappropriate medical care 
• The same non-validated tool for screening children for mental distress was used across ages 6 months to 18 years with no regard for developmental appropriateness
• There was no analysis or identification of nutritional status by medical providers 

Health care is a human right for all children. The evidence of this study demonstrates that immigration detention harms children’s mental and physical health at a crucial time of physical, mental, and social development. Learn more about the new report here.