Family Solutions Correctional  (Immigrant Detention)  Mental Health Care

The primary function of Family Solutions Correctional (Immigrant Detention) Mental Health Care is to ensure patients have ready access to high quality mental health services based on their need. We provide psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners and mental health counselors to facilities onsite in Louisiana and Texas. Our patients are immigrants who are seeking asylum from countries in Central and South America, the West Indies, Africa, and Europe. When these immigrants enter the U.S., they are detained by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and brought to Detention Facilities which have previously been used by the Department of Corrections to imprison criminals. As counselors and prescribers, we are establishing care with patients who have experienced incredible trauma, both in their countries of origin and in the journey to the U.S. Most of them were not expecting to stay in a prison setting for weeks or months as they await court dates.

The vast majority of our patients experience symptoms of depression, anxiety and sleep issues relating to their current detainment situation, and many experience PTSD symptoms, such as flashbacks, nightmares, and hypervigilance. As counselors, our role is to provide brief, solution-focused crisis management, stress reduction and relaxation techniques, sleep hygiene tools and grief work to our patients. Our team would not be complete without our psychiatric nurse practitioners who provide medications to manage depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms.

The Family Solutions team works collaboratively with medical and security staff at each facility to ensure that the detainees feel safe and supported. Our mental health team is grounded in the principles of providing unconditional positive regard, reducing stigma among detainees around receiving mental health care, and viewing our patients through a compassionate and trauma informed lens.