Volunteer Child Advocate for Unaccompanied Children in NY and surrounding areas

We are currently recruiting for our Volunteer Child Advocate training scheduled for April 5 and 6, 2025. Attendance on both days is required to complete the training and begin volunteering. If you are interested in volunteering, please fill out our application form here: https://www.theyoungcenter.org/volunteer-child-advocate-application

Once we receive your application, we will follow up regarding next steps.

The Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights is a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for the rights of unaccompanied immigrant children. The Young Center provides Volunteer Child Advocates (guardians ad litem) for trafficking victims and unaccompanied immigrant children. These advocates are adults who volunteer to spend time with and advocate for an individual unaccompanied immigrant child while they are in federal custody and undergoing immigration proceedings.

Once assigned to a child, each Advocate receives ongoing training, support, and supervision from the Young Center. Currently, our New York office is seeking bilingual volunteers who can conduct weekly one-hour visits with a child in need of accompaniment. We welcome volunteers from all cultures, professions, races, ethnicities, and social backgrounds to join us!

Volunteer Requirements:

• Must be 21 years of age or older.
• Must be fluent or highly proficient in another language. Our primary language needs at this time are Spanish, French, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Arabic, and any Central American Indigenous Languages.
• Must be able to travel to at least one of the facilities served by the Young Center in Westchester County, Harlem, or the Bronx.
• Must attend a two-day in-person Child Advocate training.
• Must be able to clear both federal and state background checks.
• Must provide proof of a negative tuberculosis test from the past 12 months to enter a detention facility.
• Must provide a record of COVID-19 vaccination.
• Must be willing to commit approximately one hour per week to visit with an unaccompanied child.