1. The mental health of undocumented children Paul Gilligan, May 2016 www.StPatricks.ie

2. Importance of emotional health Enable children to tell the truth about their lives and themselves Help them live passionately and to the full Facilitate their greater understanding of the human condition Recognise strengths and weaknesses and make the most of both

4. Emotional Health Bucket Knowing how to be happy Realising our Individualism Getting to know our emotional and psychological selves Developing our ability to recognise and deal with emotions Shaping our thinking and behaviour Believing and remembering that we are loved and are lovable feeling good about ourselves, self-belief Believing in something greater than ourselves Loving and being loved Spending time feeling good Learning positive self- discipline Listening and communicating STRONG SELF-ESTEEM Living in an emotionally healthy environment

5. Emotional and psychological health and resilience supports personality and genetic factors What determines our Mental Health

7. www.stpatricks.ie Impact on emotional health 7 Living with a secret Cannot fully engage in communities, school, leisure, social, Hard to set goals and plans, Likely to feel different, an outsider, deters disclosure of problems and seeking help

8. Our Role as Parents Teaching our child how to feel good about themselves, self-belief Learning to believe in something greater than themselves Reminding them that they are loved and are lovable Supporting them to spend time feeling good Helping them to learn positive self-discipline Listening and communicating BUILDING STRONG SELF-ESTEEM Teaching our child how to be happy Realising their Individualism getting to know their emotional and psychological selves Developing their ability to recognise and deal with emotions Shaping their thinking and behaviour Connecting with our Inner Parent-the love we have for our child and our natural ability to parent Ensuring our child’s environment is emotionally healthy and safe LOOKING AFTER OUR OWN EMOTIONAL AND PAENTING HEALTH

9. www.StPatricks.ie Types of Difficulties presenting 1 in 10 children/adolescents suffer from mental health disorders. suffer from mental health disorders. 74% of 26 year olds experience mental illness prior to 18, 50% prior to 15 mental illness prior to 18, 50% prior to 15 By age 13, 1 in 3 have some type of mental health difficulty, by 24, 1 in 2 mental health difficulty, by 24, 1 in 2 1 in 15 engage in deliberate self harm, By 24, 1 in 5 experience suicidal ideation Appears that Irish young people have higher rates than their European peers higher rates than their European peers 9

10. Carolina Population Study 2008 31% of Latino adolescents showed signs of sub-clinical or clinical anxiety, 18% showed signs of depression. 93% of the children were not U.S. citizens. only 4% of those surveyed had received any mental health services in their lifetime. Undocumented immigrants are already at disadvantage due to the structural barriers to accessing services

11. What needs to be done address the legal position of these children to ensure their rights are protected, provide preventative mental health support to them at as early a stage as possible including direct access services. Adhere to the UNCRC

12. children grow up we think a child’s purpose is to grow up. But a child’s purpose is to be Because children grow up we think a child’s purpose is to grow up. But a child’s purpose is to be a child. Nature doesn’t disdain what lives only for a day. It pours the whole of itself into each moment. Life’s bounty is in its flow, later is too late. Where is the song when its been sung, the dance when it has been danced. Tom Stoppard

13. Thank you for your time info@stpatsmail.com www.StPatricks.ie 13