Navigating Systemic Neglect: Educator Perspectives on Supporting Central American Unaccompanied Minors in California Public Schools

This qualitative study examines how educators in California public schools conceptualize and respond to the needs of Central American unaccompanied minors. Using a sociohistorical trauma-reducing framework, we analyze interviews with 29 teachers, counselors, social workers, and afterschool providers. Findings highlight structural barriers to resources and identification, academic and linguistic challenges shaped by interrupted schooling, unmet mental health and socioemotional needs, and the burden educators assume as advocates within trauma-producing systems. Despite employing relational, justice-oriented practices, educators work within conditions that undermine sustainability, underscoring the need for trauma-reducing, equity-driven reforms.