The Young Center trains volunteers to serve as Child Advocates for unaccompanied immigrant children who are in immigration proceedings at local facilities. Child Advocates visit with the children once a week, learn their story over time, and advocate for the child’s best interests.
All volunteers must be 21 or older, bilingual in Spanish, attend a two day training, and submit to background checks and a health screening.
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The Young Center is hosting a virtual Volunteer Child Advocate training on Saturday and Sunday, August 28 & 29, 2021. The application deadline is August 20. We are in need of bilingual, Spanish speaking, volunteers in the McAllen, Brownsville, Harlingen, and Corpus Christi, and surrounding TX areas. If you would like to learn more about the Young Center's work and the volunteer Child Advocate role visit theyoungcenter.org/volunteer.
Make a difference in the life of an unaccompanied immigrant child by volunteering to serve as a Child Advocate. A Child Advocate is an adult who volunteers to spend time with and advocate on behalf of an individual unaccompanied immigrant child while he or she is subject to deportation proceedings. We get to know prospective volunteers through an initial screening interview, an application and reference check, and at the required two-day training. Once assigned to an individual child, each Child Advocate receives continuing training, support, and supervision from the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights.
As a Child Advocate, you commit to:
- Visit with the child once a week (1hr) during the duration of their shelter/facility stay. (Visits are in-person, virtual option available under certain circumstances.)
- Help the child think through options and decisions.
- Conduct research on the child’s situation in his or her home country.
- 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.
