SUPPORTING UNACCOMPANIED YOUTH: MORE TOOLS FOR THE JOB

1. Patricia Julianelle & Barbara Duffield National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth 2011 Southern Regional Conference pjulianelle@naehcy.org; bduffield@naehcy.org SUPPORTINGUNACCOMPANIED YOUTH:MORE TOOLS FOR THE JOB

2. Our Agenda • What are your top challenges in supporting unaccompanied youth? • Immediate enrollment and full participation • FERPA and records • Financial aid for college • Housing and health care • Immigration

3. Immediate enrollment • Without documents, without parent, without guardian. • Cannot require caregivers to get guardianship • Means “attending classes and participating fully in school activities” • Clubs, tutoring, sports, etc. • Who signs? • Youth, caregiver, liaison • http://center.serve.org/nche/downloads/briefs/guardianship.pdf

4. Parental disapproval / school liability • Liability: based on the concept of negligence, or a failure to exercise reasonable care. • Following federal law and providing appropriate services are evidence of reasonable care. • Violating federal law and denying services are evidence of negligence. • Be reasonable based on the circumstances (school counselor, family mediation, CPS if necessary) • Talk with the youth

5. Parental disapproval /school liability (cont.) • “Harboring”: Triggered by providing shelter or concealing a youth from a parent • Don’t hide children from their parents • Don’t provide ongoing shelter without contacting parent, police or CPS • Check 1-800-THE-LOST or http://missingkids.com • Running away as a status offense or “conduct indicating a need for supervision.”: So what?

6. Contacting police and CPS • MV requires eliminating barriers to enrollment and retention in school. • Arrest, custody and foster care are threats and barriers to unaccompanied youth. • Schools must enroll youth immediately. School is the safest and best place for youth. • Educators are only mandated to report suspected abuse and/or neglect (homelessness alone is not abuse/neglect) to child welfare. • Build relationships with law enforcement, juvenile justice and local CPS.

7. Full Participation • If students miss deadlines, do not meet residency requirements or cannot pay fees due to homelessness, those deadlines, requirements and fees must be waived. • Athletic associations are “state actors”-- barriers to school sports violate the McKinney-Vento Act. • Students have won cases in OR, WA, others • Liaison determines eligibility

8. Full Participation (cont.) • Who can make decisions for an unaccompanied youth regarding participation in classes, sports, activities, field trips, etc.? • States and school districts have implemented a variety of policies and procedures. • Youth make decisions on their own. • Local liaison makes decisions. • Caregiver forms allow other adults to make decisions. • Exercise “due care” • http://center.serve.org/nche/downloads/briefs/extra_curr.pdf

9. Full Participation (cont.) Grand Traverse County, MI Academic Mentors • $135,000 in Title IA homeless set-aside • Provides every unaccompanied youth an academic mentor who: • Follows youth’s progress on a weekly or daily basis; • Provides needed support immediately; • Reduces the negative impact of homelessness on academic success and social-emotional well-being; • Helps students develop lifelong learning and independence skills. • 80% graduation rate the first year; 100% the second year.

10. FERPA and Unaccompanied Youth • “Parent” has the right to review records and consent to their disclosure. • Strategies for unaccompanied youth • Rights transfer to youth at age 18 • “Parent” includes “an individual acting as a parent in the absence of a parent or a guardian” • Give FERPA rights to youth under 18, as long as doesn’t supersede parent’s rights and youth is responsible enough to have the rights. • Parental rights always trump these strategies

11. FERPA Strategies forUnaccompanied Youth (cont) • Apply an exception to the consent requirement • Transfer students • Other school officials whom the district or school has determined to have legitimate educational interests • In connection with financial aid • Directory information • http://www.naehcy.org/naehcy_pubs.html

12. Higher Education – Financial Aid for Unaccompanied Youth Generally • Youth who meet the definition of “independent student” can complete the FAFSA without parental income information or signature. • Unaccompanied youth are automatically considered independent students. • Must be verified as unaccompanied and homeless during the school year in which the application is submitted. • Youth who are unaccompanied, at risk of homelessness, and self-supporting are also automatically considered independent students. • Must be verified as such during the school year in which the application is submitted.

13. Higher Education – Financial Aid for Unaccompanied Youth Generally • Verification must be made by: • McKinney-Vento Act school district liaison, • HUD homeless assistance program director or their designee, • Runaway and Homeless Youth Act program director or their designee, or • Financial Aid Administrator • New guidance in the FAA “Application and Verification Guide” (AVG) is very helpful!

14. Higher Education – Financial Aid for Unaccompanied Youth Generally • FAFSA Questions 55-57 • 55: Determined by homeless liaison • 56: Determined by HUD shelter • 57: Determined by RHYA program • Check “yes” to applicable question. • For students without a determination: • Check “yes” to question if they can get a determination and contact that person. • Check “no”, leave the parent section (3) blank, and contact the college FAA.

15. Higher Education – Financial Aid for Unaccompanied Youth Generally • Total Number of Applicants for Independent Status - 19,490,665 • Total Number of  Applicants who indicated a homeless circumstance - 47,204 • Determined by MV Liaison: 16,331 applicants • Determined by HUD provider: 12,288 applicants • Determined by RHYA provider: 18,390 applicants • www.naehcy.org/higher_ed.html

16. Housing Innovations • Schools and community agencies teaming up • Host Homes • Group Homes • Independent Living • Graduation rates and achievement are soaring • Often require very little funding • http://www.naehcy.org/naehcy_pubs.html

17. Minor Consent for Health Care • AL: Age 14 or over can consent to any legally authorized medical, dental, health or mental health services. Ala. Stat. §§22-8-4; 22-8-7 • AR: Any minor of sufficient intelligence to understand and appreciate the consequences of the treatment or procedures. Ark. Stat. 20-9-602(7) • OK: Any minor separated from his parents or legal guardian for whatever reason and not supported by his parents or guardian. 63 Okl. Stat. § 2602

18. Health Care Strategies • Emergencies • Health care for the Homeless providers • Liaison advocacy • Phone consent of parent • Have parent sign a health care power of attorney • Ask child welfare agency for help • Any person relying in good faith on representations re: identity, age, relationship should not be held liable for providing care.

19. Immigration Resources • Immigration and Schools: Supporting Success for Undocumented Unaccompanied Homeless Youth • http://www.naehcy.org/dl/immig.pdf • ACLU’s Immigrant Services Directory: Public Resources for Intake Referrals • http://www.aclu.org/immigrants-rights/immigrant-services-directory-public-resource-intake-referrals

20. What’s the Lingo for Immigrants? • Immigrants: intend to remain indefinitely • Non-immigrants: temporary and specific purpose • Lawful status: have permission to be in the US and compliant with terms • Without status/out of status/undocumented: Without permission and/or noncompliant

21. What’s the Lingo for Immigration Enforcement? • Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) • US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) • Immigration of Customs Enforcement (ICE) • Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

22. What’s the Lingo for Services for Immigrant Youth? • Dept. of Health & Human Services (HHS) • Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) • Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Program (URM) • Division of Unaccompanied Children’s Services (DUCS)

23. Potential Paths to Legal Status - Asylum • Asylum– People who have suffered persecution, or face a reasonable possibility of persecution, in their home country, on the basis of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.

24. Asylum (cont.) • Possible grounds for asylum for unaccompanied children in the United States: • Recruitment as a gang member or child soldier • Child forced into prostitution, or marriage • Female genital mutilation • Political activity of child or her/his parent • Child targeted on basis of sexual orientation • Vulnerability as a street child or victim of domestic violence

25. Potential Paths to Legal Status –SIJS • Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) — For children who cannot reunify with their parents due to abuse, abandonment or neglect • Determination by a state “juvenile” court is a prerequisite to applying for SIJS • Can lead to lawful permanent status

26. SIJS (cont.) • Eligibility criteria • Unmarried & under 21; subject to state law age limits • Abuse, abandonment, neglect or similar maltreatment • Not viable to reunify with parents • Not in best interests to return to country of origin • Dependent on juvenile court or placed in custody, in accordance with state law

27. Potential Paths to Legal Status –U visa • U Visa—A person who (1) has suffered substantial physical or mental abuse from a designated crime, and (2) will be helpful in the investigation or prosecution of that crime (or a “next friend” will help). • Being a victim of child abuse meets the first criterion, if the abuse would also be a crime.

28. Potential Paths to Legal Status –VAWA • Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) -- Youth who are being abused by a parent or other adult who is a legal resident or citizen with whom child resides. • Extreme cruelty – can be physical, emotional or mental. • Children can also be included on an abused parent’s application.

29. Potential Paths to Legal Status – T visa • Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age; OR • The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purposes of subjection to involuntary servitude, debt bondage or slavery.

30. What Are Undocumented Students’ Education Rights? • The same right to attend public school as citizens. Plyler v. Doe (Supreme Court, 1982) • Schools cannot require immigration documents or social security numbers for enrollment. • Schools cannot ask any immigration questions or “chill” enrollment.

31. What if a Parent/Youth Shares Immigration Information Voluntarily? • Do not call immigration authorities. • Do not tell others at school or in the community. • Do support them as you would support other families and youth. • Do offer information about immigration advocacy and service providers. • Do not interfere with an active immigration investigation.

32. Higher Education • Undocumented immigrants can apply to public colleges and universities, except for those in GA and SC. • TX, CA, NY, UT, IL, WA, NE, NM, OK and KS provide in-state tuition for resident undocumented immigrants.

33. Higher Education – Financial Aid • Federal and most state financial aid require immigration documentation. • Students who are US citizens or lawful permanent residents are eligible for aid, even if one or both parents are undocumented. • However, if the student or parents supply a fake or stolen social security number on the FAFSA, it will be rejected. Students should enter 000-00-0000 as their parent's social security number.

34. Resources: Immigrants • Papers: Stories of Undocumented Youth http://www.papersthemovie.com/ • Legal Issues for School Districts Related to the Education of Undocumented Children (National School Boards Association and National Education Association, 2009) http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/09undocumentedchildren.pdf

35. Resources: Immigrants • Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) www.supportkind.org202-824-8680info@supportKIND.org • Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) www.cliniclegal.org

36. Resources: Higher Education • The College Board http://professionals.collegeboard.com/guidance/financial-aid/undocumented-students http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/young-lives-on-hold-college-board.pdf • The Dream Act Portal http://dreamact.info/ • Dream Activist http://www.dreamactivist.org/

37. Resources: Higher Education • Scholarships for undocumented students • http://maldef.org/leadership/scholarships/resources • http://www.getreadyforcollege.org/pdfGR/ScholarshipsUndocumented.pdf • http://www.migrant.net/migrant/scholarships.htm • Educators for Fair Consideration • http://www.e4fc.org/ • Information for federal financial aid for unaccompanied youth with lawful status http://www.naehcy.org/higher_ed.html

38. Resources: Generally • NAEHCY • http://www.naehcy.org • NCHE • http://center.serve.org/nche • Runaway Switchboard http://www.1800runaway.org