After living with decades of conflict, children and families from Afghanistan are arriving at our airports to find safety. In the last two weeks, the Young Center has received multiple referrals to serve Afghan children who have arrived without a parent or legal guardian and have been placed in federal custody as unaccompanied immigrant children. We are recruiting volunteer Child Advocates who speak Persian (Farsi/Dari), Pashtu, or Uzbeki and who can commit to weekly, online meetings with children. Advocates must be at least 21 years old and agree to a FBI background check, a child abuse and neglect (CAN) background check, and a medical screening for tuberculosis (for volunteers willing and able to meet children in-person). Volunteers who meet these criteria, successfully complete our training, and who are appointed to individual cases will accompany and support an individual child while they are in detention and subjected to immigration court proceedings. Please contact [email protected] or fill our interest form here if you meet these requirements. You can also help by sharing our call for volunteers on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. |
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Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the Biden administration’s attempt to end the Remain in Mexico program, officially known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). The program created and implemented by the Trump administration forced thousands of asylum-seekers to stay in particularly dangerous conditions across the border as they waited for their hearings in the United States. Our team identified and documented the policy’s specific harm to children. As the Biden administration recognized, there is no legitimate justification for putting children in harm’s way. Please follow and uplift our efforts to once again end this dangerous policy. |
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"I signed up to be a volunteer Child Advocate not only because it felt like a tangible way to make a difference in the life of a child or because I come from a family of immigrants. I signed up because we have to look at all children as our own children. If we did that, no child would be unsafe, no child would be denied protection, no child would be left to fend for themselves," Young Center volunteer Child Advocate Bernie Salazar writes in his recent reflection for our blog.
Bernie is one among hundreds of Young Center volunteer Child Advocates. By meeting with children weekly, listening to their voices and stories, and accompanying them throughout their immigration proceedings, each Young Center Child Advocate makes a world of difference.
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There's still time to register for our first ever virtual run/walk/roll to raise funds for immigrant children! Participate on your own or with a team or fundraise for your favorite runner to ensure that immigrant children are treated first and foremost as children. Pick your race day and time, choose your distance, chart your own course, and share your race day photos on social media using #BeAWaymaker!
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Serving others is to be part of something bigger than yourself and to recognize the dignity within each person and their life story. As Child Advocates, we bear witness to immigrant children's experiences, provide support throughout an arduous process, and create a safe environment uniquely dedicated to them so, they never forget one simple thing: they matter.
-Young Center-DC Volunteer Child Advocate Sarah Fleming
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