Abstract
After setting foot into the U.S., unaccompanied children must learn to navigate academic and legal systems while receiving little support and carrying the heavy burden of effects of trauma on their mental health. They need access to mental health care from qualified professionals, but as this Comment will explain, they systematically fail to receive care, as can be seen in cases like Doe v. Shenandoah Valley Juv. Ctr. Comm’n. In Shenandoah, an unaccompanied child arrived in the U.S. and was placed in a facility that failed to provide remotely adequate mental health care and in fact was subjected to harsh disciplinary practices that further traumatized the child. Unfortunately, this child was one of many experiencing punitive punishment so, together, the child and others incarcerated at the facility filed a class action suit contending that the facility failed to provide a constitutionally adequate level of mental health care. Holding for a professional judgment standard, the Court’s ruling in Shenandoah created a circuit split, as the Third Circuit had previously applied the deliberate indifference standard. The professional judgment standard “is based on experience as well as learned knowledge and skills. Relying on one’s own professional judgment, sharing that judgment with others, and seeking consultation when necessary are foundational elements of practicing medicine.” The deliberate indifference standard is “Conscious disregard of the harm that one’s actions could do to the interests or rights of another.” This Comment’s main argument is that the Supreme Court should take on the issue presented in Shenandoah, solidifying the fact that the professional judgment standard prevails over the deliberate indifference standard. This Comment also argues that the agencies who have custody over unaccompanied children should take note of the reports published concerning them and take actions to better the mental health care provided in their facilities.
Recommended Citation
Rama Bankesly, A Hard Pill to Swallow: The Abysmal Mental Health Standards of Detained Immigrant Children in the United States, 47 SEATTLE U. L. REV. 1819 (2024).
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