Specialties & Conditions Forensic Assessment for Immigration Relief (FAIR) Clinic
Forensic Assessment for Immigration Relief (FAIR) Clinic
As the only clinic in Illinois specializing in pediatric populations until their 25th birthday, the FAIR Clinic provides pro bono, developmentally appropriate, and trauma-informed forensic medical and psychological evaluations. For child and adolescent survivors of torture, persecution, or other human rights abuses seeking asylum in the United States, these evaluations, when included in asylum applications, are shown to nearly double asylum grant rates.
What We Do
We provide medical and psychological forensic evaluations for children and adolescents who have experienced trauma in their countries of origin or anywhere along their migration journey. FAIR conducts evaluations for the following types of immigration relief: Asylum, Special Immigrant Juveniles (SIJ), U-visas, T-visas, Hardship evaluations, and Expedited psychiatric diagnostic evaluations.
Since launching, FAIR Clinic has helped children and adolescents from countries including Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nigeria, and Venezuela seek protected legal status in the United States.
We train the next generation. Lurie Children's medical and psychiatric students, interns, and fellows work alongside our staff refugee health experts to learn how to conduct these specialized assessments.
Trainees can shadow an evaluation, from the initial call with the attorney to participating in the evaluation and drafting the final affidavit. They can also participate in research, manuscript development, grant applications, and advocacy efforts.
We document local pediatric refugee and immigrant psychiatric and medical needs to inform best practices for forensic asylum and immigration relief evaluations.
Our scholarly work includes conference presentations, research (data collection, chart review, and manuscript prep), and media appearances. Manuscript preparation concerns structural and legal violence experienced by minors seeking immigration relief during the migration and postmigration stages.
The forensic assessment for immigration relief (FAIR) clinic: A faculty-led, pediatric clinic model.
Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, 2024.
Acceptability and Initial Promise of Trainings for Community Stakeholders Serving Refugee and Immigrant Families.
Psychological Services, 2022.
A model clinic to aid unaccompanied minors.
American Academy of Pediatrics Newsletter on the Council of Child Abuse & Neglect, 2021.
You Are Not Alone: A public health response to immigrant/refugee distress in the current sociopolitical context.
Psychological Services, 2020.
We collaborate with local, regional, and national organizations to advance social justice in healthcare.
Some of these organizations include the Coalition for Immigrant Mental Health, Immigrant Families Learning Collaborative, Mayor’s Office of New Americans Chicago is With You Task Force, Refugee and Immigrant Child Health Initiative of the Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Welcome to Illinois.
How Do I Make a Referral?
Referrals come from immigration attorneys who have deemed forensic evaluations beneficial for clients seeking immigration relief. Attorneys can submit referrals to us in two ways.
To make a direct referral, fill out our referral form.
Submit a referral form through our partner affiliate, Midwest Human Rights Consortium
If you are a patient or are a provider working with a patient who does not yet have legal representation, and you think they may qualify for immigration relief, consider contacting
How Can I Support the FAIR Clinic’s Work?
The future of Lurie Children’s FAIR Clinic is built on the generous spirit of donors who support the hospital in a variety of ways. Your support is vital in helping us continue to achieve the FAIR Clinic's goals in evaluation, training, research, and advocacy for refugee and immigrant children.
Support the FAIR Clinic's Work
To learn more about how you can support this work and expand the Clinic’s ability to provide services beyond forensic assessment, please e-mail the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago Foundation at foundation@luriechildrens.org or call 312.227.7500.
FAIR Clinic in the News
Volunteer networks step up to provide health needs to migrants at police stations
Chicago Tribune
La falta de recursos para niños migrantes con discapacidades
Telemundo Chicago
A home for the holidays: How one migrant family remembers their past to help define their future in Chicago
Chicago Tribune
