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For the past 25 years, Commonwealth Catholic Charities (CCC) has provided comprehensive foster care services to more than 750 children who have entered the United States on their own, without family members or adults to care for them. Our children come from more than 15 countries spanning the globe, and we assist them as they adapt to their new world. We provide foster homes, mental health services including individual and group therapy, case management of educational and health care needs, and most importantly, we nurture the youth and teach them the skills they will need to be self-sufficient, successful adults. The young people we serve include refugees, undocumented youth seeking asylum, and victims of human trafficking.
Since 1982, CCC has provided foster care services to unaccompanied refugee minors, making this group the oldest and largest population in our program. Refugee minors, by definition, are children who have been forced to flee their home countries because of war or persecution due to their race, religion, or the political affiliation of their families. They are referred to as "unaccompanied” because their parents or adult relatives have died or disappeared in the civil chaos that forced the minors to flee.
Refugee minors enter the U.S. with the permission of the United Nations and the U.S. State Department, and they are eligible for placement in foster care programs until they reach adulthood at age 21. CCC is one of the oldest and largest programs serving unaccompanied refugee minors in the U.S. We have served children from Vietnam, Burma, Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, Haiti, Ethiopia, Liberia and many other countries, and we have been proud to watch them grow into successful adult permanent residents and citizens of the United States.
In 2003, CCC expanded its international foster care program to include services to minors who enter the U.S. without refugee or other immigration status granted prior to their arrival. Most of these young people are from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, or other countries in Central or South America. They may be fleeing abuse, neglect, or some form of persecution in their home countries similar to that experienced by refugees. Unlike refugees, however, these children are called “undocumented minors” or “asylum-seekers” because their immigration cases are not yet settled. They enter the United States on their own, and are placed in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security. DHS then places them in the care of agencies like CCC who are specialists in providing foster care to international youth. In addition to CCC’s typical foster care services, these young people also receive access to pro-bono attorneys who will assist them in applying for asylum or other appropriate immigration status. They are eligible for foster care until their 18th birthday.
Human trafficking has been the subject of increasing international attention in recent years. It involves international trade in human beings, for the purposes of exploiting them for the benefit of the trafficker. It is, in short, modern-day slavery. Most commonly, children and adults are taken from their home countries and forced to work in the commercial sex trade, as domestic servants, or as agricultural labor. In 2002, legislation was passed in the United States that recognizes trafficking victims as a vulnerable group and provides services for their protection and care.
After the Trafficking Victims Protection Act was enacted, CCC began working with U.S. law enforcement and immigration officials to provide foster care placements for victims of human trafficking who are under the age of 18. These minors are eligible for the same comprehensive services as refugee minors, and they are able to remain in foster care until their 21 st birthday. Since 2002, CCC has provided homes and case management to more than 15 victims of trafficking from Mexico, Central America, and West Africa.
Within 24 hours of arriving in Richmond, all children in the international foster care program are brought into the legal custody or guardianship of CCC and placed into a foster or group home where CCC delivers the following services:
- Foster care placement
- Independent living skills training
- Enrollment in school or vocational training program
- Placement in English as a Second Language program (as needed)
- Medical and dental treatment
- Mental health services, including individual and group therapy
(as needed)
- Translation/Bilingual services
- Acculturation assistance
- Volunteer tutors and mentors
The international foster care program has experienced tremendous growth in the past year and is actively seeking dedicated foster parents and mentors. For more information on welcoming an international youth into your life, please contact the Connections Department at (804)285-5900 for more information.
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