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Human rights organization seeking volunteers to help unaccompanied immigrant children

The Young Center in Phoenix is looking for volunteers to meet with children in immigration custody to help advocate for them.

More than 98,000 unaccompanied children have been taken into custody after crossing the southern border in the first six months of 2023, according to Border Patrol's latest numbers.

Now, a human rights organization in Phoenix is in need of volunteers to help the children. 

Isobel Conroy, the volunteer coordinator for The Young Center in Phoenix says they're seeing an increase in demand. 

VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: Organización humanitaria buscan voluntarios para ayudar a menores inmigrantes

"With all the different changes in policy and things that have changed in the immigration world, we've been noticing that children have varying experiences," Conroy said. "We have children that have disabilities - either mental or physical disabilities - children that are pregnant or parenting coming across the border." 

Over the past year, The Young Center helped more than 170 kids in Phoenix and more than 1,500 across the United States. 

Volunteers work to get to know children who came to the U.S. on their own or were separated from their parents, while attorneys and social workers handle their needs in the immigration system. 

"Our focus is on supporting the child where they're at and doing what we can while they're here," Conroy said. "And trying to support them throughout the process and get people that can make decisions on their cases to do so in a manner that is centering their rights, their interests, their health, their safety and their well-being." 

Right now the organization says they're especially looking for bilingual volunteers who speak Spanish, Mayan and Indigenous languages from Central America (Mam, K’iche, K’ekchi, K’anjob’al, Chuj, etc), Punjabi, Pashto, Arabic, Hausa, Twi and Turkish. 

Volunteers will meet with children in immigration custody for an hour a week and do not need to have any specific background in immigration or social work to help out.

"Their focus is getting to know the child, bringing fun games, bringing activities that the child wants to do," Conroy said. "And then through those visits, our staff members do all of the best interest advocacy on their behalf." 

The Young Center in Phoenix is having volunteer training on Sept. 9 and 10. People 21 and older interested in volunteering are asked to complete the Volunteer Child Advocate Application to get the exact address of the training. 

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