Volunteer Child Advocate
The Young Center For Immigrant Childrens Rights
The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights is currently recruiting volunteer Child Advocates in Long Island, NY and Westchester, NY. A Child Advocate is an adult who volunteers to spend time with, and advocate on behalf of, an unaccompanied or separated immigrant child while he or she is subject to immigration/deportation proceedings. We welcome volunteers from all cultures, professions, races, ethnicities and social backgrounds. Advocates must be at least 21 years old. A complete application and background check is required before attending the training. Spanish speakers are strongly preferred.
Before being assigned, volunteers are required to complete a two-day training session on child development, communicating with children, and U.S. immigration law and issues facing unaccompanied immigrant children. Once assigned to an individual child, each Advocate receives continuous training, support, and supervision from the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights.
*Our next two-day training will take place online (via Zoom) on April 10th and 11th.*
As a Child Advocate, you commit to:
- Visit with the child once a week during the duration of their shelter/facility stay. (Per COVID-19 restrictions, all "visits" are being conducted through video conference until further notice.)
- Help the child think through options and decisions.
- Help our staff draft written reports regarding the child’s best interest.
- Maintain close communication with Young Center staff and the child’s Case Manager at the shelter to schedule visits.
- Advocate for the best interest of the child.
A virtual information session will take place on Monday, March 8, from 5-6pm EST.If you are interested, please contact New York Volunteer Coordinator Michaela Burger at mburger@theyoungcenter.org
About The Young Center For Immigrant Childrens Rights
Location:
100 Church Street, New York, NY 10007, US
Mission Statement
The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights protects and advances the rights and best interests of immigrant children according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and state and federal law.
Description
The Young Center is a champion for the best interests of children who arrive in the United States on their own, from all corners of the world. We serve as trusted allies for these children while they are in deportation proceedings, advocating for their best interests, and standing for the creation of a dedicated children’s immigrant justice system that ensures the safety and well-being of every child.
Young Center attorneys and social workers, along with bilingual volunteers, are appointed as Child Advocate (guardian ad litem) by the Department of Health and Human Services. Our role is to advocate for their best interests-from custody and release to the ultimate decision about whether the child will be allowed to remain in the U.S. Our goal is to change both immigration policy and practice so that immigrant children are recognized first as children and their best interests are considered in every decision.
Our goal is to change the immigration system so that children in immigration proceedings are recognized as children, and best interests are made a part of the decision making process.