This report is published in light of the recent “large-scale flight of unaccompanied children from Central America” to the United States, which reached its peak in the summer of 2014. The report evolved out of, and is informed by, a series of three “Roundtable” meetings convened by Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) in 2014 to consider current and ideal practice with unaccompanied children in the US.
The report presents policy and practice recommendations for the care and protection of unaccompanied children, based on the wisdom and learning shared by the participants in these Roundtable meetings. LIRS developed a set of child protection principles to guide governmental and non-governmental work with unaccompanied children, which are laid out in this report and have been endorsed by a wide range of organizations with an interest in the treatment of separated and unaccompanied children. The recommendations presented in the report center around 6 primary areas: (1) Apprehension, Screening, and Referral to the Office of Refugee Resettlement; (2) Access to Justice; (3) Family Reunification; (4) Post-Release Services; (5) Improving Coordination; and (6) Oversight and Accountability.
