Washington, D.C. – In the wake of the termination of federal funding for vital legal services for unaccompanied children, Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) President Wendy Young issued the following statement:
“Since KIND opened its doors, the protection of unaccompanied children has been our North Star, shaping our work to harness the power of pro bono legal services and to meet emerging needs faced by our clients, including protection from harms such as trafficking and labor exploitation. We bring our expertise in child protection, immigration law, capacity building, advocacy, and communications to bear at every step of an unaccompanied child’s journey to safety. KIND’s work is ongoing and undeterred.
“As with all non-profit organizations, funding creates opportunities to serve our clients and undergirds our operations. In the current environment, we are making innovative program adjustments to sustain KIND’s ability to serve unaccompanied children and carry out our mission in the years to come. These shifts stem from the termination of federal funding, without notice, that has been in place for over 15 years. This federal funding represented 68% of KIND’s operating budget and enabled us to represent a current caseload of over 4,000 unaccompanied children in their immigration proceedings. These children are now at risk of appearing in those proceedings without counsel. Nationally, among all legal service providers, the contract covered 26,000 cases. The decision to halt funding for vital legal services for unaccompanied children threatens their well-being and safety and the ethical obligations of their attorneys.
“While the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued an order temporarily restraining the administration’s actions, services for children remain suspended. We do not know if, or when, they will be restored. In the meantime, we will continue to encourage the full restoration of this vital funding that protects the most vulnerable children from trafficking and exploitation.
“KIND has moved swiftly to adjust its model to meet our mission and ensure the long-term health of the organization. We have a robust network of almost 900 private sector pro bono partners with whom we are placing cases and we are retaining cases within KIND where we can. While we are reducing staff and closing some brick-and-mortar offices, the model to which we are moving will give us the flexibility to enable us to sustain to the fullest extent possible our geographic reach and representation of children who otherwise will face immigration court alone. While we may have to withdraw from some cases due to the loss of federal funding, we are exploring all potential sources of alternative financial support to allow us to serve as many unaccompanied children as possible.”
“While these necessary changes represent a shift in how KIND works, they do not alter why we do this work. KIND’s work is as important today as at any other point in time since our founding. Our commitment to our mission is unshakeable. The urgent need to protect these vulnerable children remains, and so will KIND for many years to come.”
KIND remains committed to carrying out its vital global programming that protects unaccompanied children, including:
- Working with almost 900 private-sector partners to provide high-quality pro bono representation to unaccompanied children.
- Advancing policy objectives that prioritize protections for unaccompanied children throughout their journey to safety, from protections in their country of origin to successful integration into their new communities. We continue to work to ensure their access to representation, psychosocial support, education, and other vital services that keep them safe.
- Elevating the experiences of unaccompanied children to create greater understanding of the dangers they flee, the journeys they take, and their need for protection.
- Coordinating with private sector partners to establish programs that combat child labor exploitation and trafficking and ensure justice for children impacted by these crimes.
- Providing high-quality training and capacity strengthening for our private sector partners, regional and international organizations, governments, and our NGO peers who are instrumental in protecting unaccompanied children. We export our expertise and harness the power of partnerships to expand services to unaccompanied children around the globe in recognition of the fact that we cannot achieve our mission alone.
- Leading return-and-reintegration programs to ensure children are safe upon return to their home countries.
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Media Contact: Megan McKenna, mmckenna@supportkind.org, 202-631-9990