Home
Bethany Refugee Services
About Us
Hope is Global Event
Refugee Foster Care
 • Details
 • Requirements
 • FAQs
 • Stories
 • Homes Needed!
 • Staff and Contact
 • Orientation Meetings
 • Foster Parent Training
PARA
 • About PARA
 • Partner Agencies
 • Vision
 • Volunteer
 • Church and
Co-Sponsors
 • Staff and Contact
Outreach and Referral
Refugee Countries
Refugee Journey
ACT Now!
Get Involved
Resources
Contact Us
Make A Donation
JOBS LINKS OFFICE LOCATIONS CONTACT US ABOUT US SEARCH

Refugee - Details

The Unaccompanied Refugee Minor Program
The United States Refugee program includes specialized resettlement and foster care services for certain unaccompanied minors. These services are provided through two voluntary agencies, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops/Migration and Refugee Services (USCCB/MRS), which are authorized by the U.S. Department of State to resettle unaccompanied youth. These agencies work through a network of licensed child welfare agencies to provide appropriate support services. The Unaccompanied Refugee Minor program (URM) is funded through the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).

Five types of unaccompanied minors (under the age of 18) are eligible for refugee foster care:

1.Refugee Minors - refugee children who enter the United States prior to their 18th birthday, without a parent or appropriate caregiver to provide for them.
2.Asylee Minors - minors who are granted asylum in the United States and have no family to care for them.
3.Cuban/Haitian entrants and Amerasians
4.Victims of a severe form of trafficking
5.Inaccurate Age Cases - minors sometimes enter the country with documents mistakenly indicating that they are adults.
URM program services include: indirect financial support providing for housing, food, clothing, and other necessities; education supports; health, mental health and legal services; intensive case management; cultural and recreation activities; and mentoring and life skills training.

The Unaccompanied Refugee Minor Program of the U.S. Refugee Program
The United States Refugee Program includes specialized resettlement and foster care services for unaccompanied refugee minors. These services are provided by two voluntary agencies, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) and United States Conference of Catholic Bishops/Migration and Refugee Services (USCCB/MRS), which are authorized by the U.S. Department of State to resettle unaccompanied youth and have worked with unaccompanied refugee youth for more than 25 years. These agencies work through a network of licensed child welfare agencies to provide appropriate support services.

Reclassification
Culturally appropriate foster care and resettlement services of the Unaccompanied Refugee Minor (URM) program are available to some minors who enter the U.S. attached to families, but whose circumstances change drastically, in addition to minors who enter unaccompanied. This may be true in the case of family breakdown after arrival, or some other event leading to abandonment, abuse or neglect (e.g., unresolvable conflict between a teenager and a non-parental relative, death of a parent or guardian, runaway or abandoned youth, etc.). If no relative is available to care for a minor, foster care may be in the child's best interest. Such children can be "reclassified" by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to unaccompanied minor status in order to access the program. In situations where a child would have to move to a different community in order to be placed in a refugee foster care program, consideration must be given to whether it is in the child's best interest to be placed in a local foster care program or be moved to a specialized refugee foster care program.

Program Services
Resettlement of unaccompanied minors occurs in accordance with domestic child welfare guidelines, but services are only provided through programs specifically designed for the reception of refugee youth. Minors are placed in foster care, group homes, or independent living arrangements appropriate to the youth's developmental needs. Services available through these programs include:
  • indirect financial support for housing, food, clothing, and other necessities.
  • medical care.
  • intensive case management by a social worker.
  • independent living skills training (consumer/budgeting skills, housing, food preparation, social and legal systems, transportation, education, community resources, health, and sexuality).
  • education/English as a Second Language (ESL).
  • tutoring/mentoring.
  • job skills training and career/college counseling.
  • mental health services.
  • on-going family tracing, when possible.
  • cultural activities/recreation.
  • special educational services, when needed.
  • legal assistance.

Foster care placements are based on the individual needs of a particular youth, with attention to the cultural, linguistic, and religious background of a youth; special health, educational, and emotional needs; as well as the personality, temperament, and opinions of the youth. Foster parents must be licensed by their state or county child welfare provider and receive ongoing training in child welfare matters. Foster parents come from diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, and they receive special training on the adjustment needs of refugee youth.

Youth who enter the United States prior to age 18 can remain in foster care/independent living until they complete high school or reach 20-21 years of age (depending upon particular state emancipation guidelines).

Eligibility
Refugee minors and Amerasians may be identified as unaccompanied minors overseas and may be placed directly into the program upon arrival. The following groups of minors may enter the U.S. with non-refugee status, but may be reclassified as unaccompanied minors by the director of ORR and placed in the program:
  • Cuban and Haitian entrants.
  • those who receive asylum.
  • victims of sever forms of trafficking.
In addition, though minors in the above categories may arrive in the U.S. accompanied by parents or other caregivers, they sometimes become eligible for URM program services after arrival in the U.S. (e.g., through family breakdown or a death in the family).

Reclassification Process
Please contact LIRS or USCCB to assess what would be best for a particular child. The general process is as follows:
  • Contact Children's Services of LIRS or USCCB to discuss the child's situation.
  • If foster care appears in the child's best interest, LIRS or USCCB will make placement arrangements with the appropriate foster care program.
  • LIRS or USCCB files an Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children form if a child is moving from one state to another.
  • The foster care program arranges the official reclassification request between the State Refugee Coordinator and the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
  • Travel arrangements are made after reclassification approval by ORR>
  • Paperwork and this process can take 1-2 weeks, depending on the situation.

© 2008 Bethany Christian Services   1.800.BETHANY