The Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights

The mission of the Young Center is to promote the best interests of unaccompanied immigrant children with due regard to the child’s expressed wishes, according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and state and federal child protection law. The Young Center provides Child Advocates who are appointed by the federal government to advocate for the best interests of individual children. The role of the Child Advocate is to ensure that all decisions on behalf of an immigrant child consider the child’s best interests—safety and well being. The Young Center assigns bilingual volunteer Child Advocates for individual children. The Advocate stands with the child at the center of the complex U.S. immigration system, accompanies the child to court, gets to know the child’s story, ensures the child has an immigration attorney, and advocates for that individual child’s best interests.

Now in its eleventh year, the Young Center has advocated for the best interests of hundreds of unaccompanied immigrant children on issues of protection, detention and safe repatriation according to the principles set forth in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as state and federal child protection statutes. Immigration Judges in Chicago now refer cases to the Young Center so that a Child Advocate will be appointed, paying particular attention when, for example, the motives of the private attorney are suspect or a child with mental health concerns asks for deportation.