Program areas at KIND
Through strategic partnerships, Kind provides pro bono legal representation for refugee and migrant children across the u.s. Kind's legal programs team is comprised of legal professionals who, together with our extensive network of partners from law firms and corporations, representing over 7,500 unaccompanied children in 2023. In addition to providing high-quality representation, the team provides holistic, trauma-informed, social services to Kind's clients and informs critical legal strategy and impact litigation to protect the rights of unaccompanied migrant and refugee children in the u.s. and northern mexico. The compassion and dedication of Kind's volunteer attorneys and staff make our work possible, and our collective efforts have changed the lives of thousands of at-risk immigrant children. With our partners, we have helped those children find safety and freedom from violence, abuse, and persecution. Most of Kind's clients are fleeing some of the world's most dangerous countries and conditions. In 2023, Kind accepted referrals for more than 70,000 unaccompanied children needing representation. We have welcomed over 50,000 attendees to our training and partner with over 800 law firms, corporations, law schools, and bar association partners.
Public outreach & education - Kind continued its legislative and administration advocacy work to ensure that law, policy, and practice advance the protection of unaccompanied children in the united states. Kind worked throughout 2023 to ensure that all unaccompanied children arriving at the u.s. border were able to access humanitarian protection through timely but fair immigration proceedings, were expeditiously reunited with family, and had access to services to help them comply with the immigration court system. Kind also worked to gain support for a greater commitment to the safe repatriation and reintegration of children returning to their home countries alone, to educate stakeholders about the root causes of these children's plight and ways to address them, as well as to secure access to counsel and to ensure adequate funding for unaccompanied children's services.
Kind is working in and outside of the u.s. toward a world where we share, across borders and continents, an absolute commitment to the protection of children from persecution, trafficking, and other harms. In complement to Kind's domestic legal programs and advocacy work, Kind's international work enables it to contribute to unaccompanied children's rights, protection, and well-being in their home countries and as they migrate in search of safety. Kind's steadfast commitment to providing legal representation to unaccompanied children everywhere we work, our programming in central america to address the root causes of migration, and our work in mexico and europe to improve the treatment of children on the move and children seeking permanency, deepen our ties to the worldwide community that supports the protection of unaccompanied children. Our work increasing the capacity of government actors and agencies to strengthen child protection systems is vital to our efforts.work in central america/mexico Kind works to increase access to protection and rights for migrant children throughout the central america-mexico region. Kind has four regional initiatives that aim to address the root causes of migration, educate the public about child migration in the region, reunify separated families, and ensure access to information and protection for migrant children. Kind's initiatives include:(1) central american child return and reintegration projectkind's central american child return and reintegration project provides comprehensive support to migrant children repatriated to guatemala and honduras to address their range of needs and support their safe reintegration into their families and communities. Kind provides pre-departure coordination to ensure that children are not returning to dangerous situations, to identify reintegration needs, and to prepare children and families with information on the return process. Kind then works with local partner organizations in guatemala and honduras to provide holistic support for children and their families, including psychosocial support and assistance with accessing education, medical, and mental health services, as well as identifying opportunities for skills building, job training, and internships for older youth. This support allows children and their families to access opportunities within their communities and provides alternatives to re-migration. In 2023, Kind provided reintegration services to 350 returned children, along with their families, serving a total of approximately 1090 individuals, and connecting them to vital services including mental health, medical care, education, and basic needs. Kind engages with the u.s. and central american governments to improve the repatriation process to ensure it is child friendly. Kind also advocates for increased u.s. foreign assistance and investment from central american countries to address the root causes of child migration from the region and to expand services available for returning unaccompanied migrant children and their families. (2) gender and migration initiativekind's gender and migration initiative uses research, advocacy, and programming to prevent and address gender-based violence, a leading cause of forced child migration from central america. Kind works with local partner organizations in guatemala and honduras to engage children and youth, teachers, parents and caregivers, and community members in violence prevention programming. Programming responds to the specific needs of local communities and includes school-based prevention workshops for secondary school students, leadership and economic empowerment programming for adolescent girls, and sexual abuse prevention workshops for teachers. In 2023, Kind and partner organizations engaged 980 individuals in guatemala and honduras in gender-based violence prevention efforts.kind also works with organizations and experts in central america and mexico to gather up-to-date information on the prevalence and impact of gender-based violence and uses that information to advocate with policymakers to strengthen protection and humanitarian response and services for migrant children affected by gender-based violence. (3) cross border family unification & protection initiativeimmigration enforcement policies put in place by governments in the region have led to the short or long-term separation of thousands of children from their parents or caregivers. Many cases involve separation across borders, where a parent is sent back to the country of origin, but the child remains in the united states, or a child is sent to the country of origin, but the parent remains in mexico or the united states. Separated children may end up in the domestic foster care system in the united states, or with a relative who cannot provide long-term care. Following separation across borders, children and their caregivers often do not know how to reunify, and in some cases may not even know how to find one another. Kind assists families harmed by separation across borders and seeking to reunify by helping family members locate and communicate with one another, understand their options for reunification, and, when desirable and possible, reunify. Kind also offers psychological support services to families reunifying in the country of origin, to help restore family bonds harmed by separation. In 2022 Kind implemented a department of state funded project to reunify families separated between 2017-2018 by administrative policies in place at the time. Through this project, we conducted outreach to separated families to inform them of their right to reunification under an administrative reunification pathway initiated in spring 2022. Kind also works with separated children and families in the country of origin to with protection needs to identify options for safety. In 2023 Kind's cross-border family unification and protection initiative assisted 700 separated families. (4) mexico initiativekind's programming in mexico seeks to increase access to rights and protection for all unaccompanied migrant children in mexico, whether mexico is their country of origin, transit, destination, or return. Kind's staff at the u.s.-mexico border provides know-your-rights training and information, as well as legal case consultations and to unaccompanied children seeking protection in the united states. At mexico's southern border, Kind's multi-disciplinary team provides legal assistance and psychosocial support to children and their caregivers. To enhance the capacity of the mexican government to protect unaccompanied children, Kind trains mexican child protection authorities and other government officials and ngos on topics including u.s. and mexican laws and systems regarding unaccompanied immigrant children, best interest determinations, and best practices for working with migrant children. Kind advocates with policymakers in mexico and the u.s. as well as international bodies to increase access to protection and rights for unaccompanied migrant children in mexico. Kind also works with partner organizations at mexico's northern and southern borders to monitor conditions for unaccompanied migrant children, and uses information gathered through monitoring to inform advocacy and legal services work. In 2023 Kind provided legal and psychosocial assistance to more than 750 children in mexico.european initiativekind works with partners in greece, france, ireland, belgium, italy, poland, and the united kingdom to provide high-quality legal assistance and information to unaccompanied and separated children on a range of issues, such as asylum, family reunification, age assessment, and human trafficking, and citizenship. At the same time Kind and its partners develop principles, policy, and practical measures to advance children's rights and protection. In 2023, more than 900 children received assistance through Kind's european initiative.