AB 1140 -Unaccompanied Immigrant Children Protections Act


Immigrant Defense Advocates is co-sponsoring AB 1140 by Assemblymember Robert Rivas (D-Hollister), a bill that would ensure children who come to the United States alone to seek safety are receiving the same care as other California children in state-licensed settings. IDA is joining Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), Youth Law Center (YLC), Legal Services for Children (LSC), Vera Institute of Justice, National Center for Youth Law, and Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) in co-sponsoring AB 1140.

Updates

  • 9/24/2021 SIGNED BY GOVERNOR NEWSOM 
  • 6/08/2021 – AB 1140 Passed Senate Public Saftey Committee on Consent
  • 4/19/2021 – AB 1140 Passed Assembly Floor Unanimously
  • 4/13/2021 – AB 1140 Passed Assembly Judiciary Committee on Consent 
  • 4/7/2021 – AB 1140 Passed Assembly Human Services Committee on Consent 

Media

Fact Sheet

Problem

Each year, thousands of unaccompanied children fleeing violence, war and poverty enter the United States, and are temporarily taken into federal custody in state-licensed childcare facilities. Yet unaccompanied children often do not have the ability to exercise their rights and ensure their safety and well-being in these facilities in the same way as other Californian children because they lack access to resources and advocates with both the training and authority to assist them. Most unaccompanied immigrant children are therefore receiving disparate care than other California children in state-licensed settings. 

Background

Unaccompanied children are held temporarily in the federal custody of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) while awaiting family reunification or an appropriate long-term foster care placement. More unaccompanied children are present in California than any other state in the country. On average, approximately 2,500 unaccompanied children are held in ORR custody annually in California-licensed facilities. Since the start of Fiscal Year 2015, approximately 33,000 unaccompanied children were released from ORR custody to sponsors and family members in California. 

The federal government is required to provide care for unaccompanied children in state-licensed childcare settings. Unaccompanied children have a right to the same level of care and services as any other child in California in licensed childcare settings.  The treatment children experience in such settings can affect their ability to heal their trauma and integrate successfully into Californian communities.  

However, a 2019 Disability Rights California report resulting from monitoring California ORR facilities underscored how unaccompanied immigrant children in these state-licensed facilities were being underserved compared to other children in California. The report found meager and cursory educational assessments and inadequate mental health and medical evaluations and care, all falling short of California state standards. 

The California Office of the Foster Care Ombudsperson is an independent, impartial, and confidential agency trained to investigate complaints about the treatment of youth in state-licensed childcare settings, and to educate youth and licensed programs about their rights and responsibilities under California law. 

The Ombudsperson could be crucial in safeguarding the rights and best interests of unaccompanied children in federal custody when state-licensed programs have failed to meet their obligations.  

Solution

To protect children while they are held in ORR-run facilities licensed by the state of California, it is imperative that their rights under state law are clearly delineated and that clear mechanisms for oversight, investigation, and enforcement of these rights exist. California can set a national example by making explicit the state’s role in exercising oversight over the treatment and care of children in state-licensed ORR facilities. AB 1140 would clarify the Ombudsperson’s jurisdiction, as well as responsibility, to engage in this important oversight of children held in state-licensed ORR facilities. 

Some key examples of how the Ombudsperson’s Office will be able to assist unaccompanied children through this legislation include:

  • Investigating complaints made by or on behalf of unaccompanied children about treatment in state-licensed childcare settings 
  • Educating childcare program staff about their state licensing obligations and children’s personal rights under California state law
  • Ensuring that children can exercise their right to communicate with family members, including children, co-parents, and their own parents
  • Ensuring children have access to resources in their own languages
  • Assisting children with finding flexible and alternative educational options suitable for their specific needs

Bill Language

AB 1140 (Rivas)

Contact

Cindy Liou, Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)

Support

Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) (co-sponsor)
Youth Law Center (YLC) (co-sponsor)
Legal Services for Children (LSC) (co-sponsor)
Immigrant Defense Advocates (IDA) (co-sponsor)
Vera Institute of Justice (co-sponsor)
National Center for Youth Law (co-sponsor)
Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) (co-sponsor)
Immigrant Defenders Law Center
Public Counsel

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