Sofia was 16 years old when the Young Center was appointed as her Child Advocate. A transgender girl from Honduras, Sofia had suffered profound trauma due to sexual assault in her home country as well as on her journey to the United States. When she arrived at the border, she was taken into custody and bounced around six different facilities in two years.

When a Young Center Child Advocate was first appointed to Sofia, she was already tired of being in custody without any idea of when she’d be able to secure asylum and live independently.

The Young Center successfully advocated for Sofia to be transferred to a residential treatment center where she could access the mental health support she needed to begin to heal. We also continued to advocate for Sofia’s legal protection and for her placement in a stable and safe housing program once her therapeutic treatment was complete. With the benefit of appropriate treatment for her severe trauma, Sofia was thriving, but a new problem loomed on the horizon.

For teens in government custody, turning 18 can be incredibly traumatizing because they may be transferred to ICE adult detention, sometimes in shackles, on their birthdays. No exceptions are made for young people who are asylum-seekers, trafficking survivors, or victims of abuse, abandonment, or neglect. Children hear stories about or witness other children being taken away the morning of their birthday and if they’re close to turning 18, they’re terrified.

We know that no child becomes an adult overnight. No child should fear going to jail on their 18th birthday. For Sofia, as a transgender girl, the possibility of ending up in an adult immigration detention facility was especially frightening.

With just a few weeks remaining before Sofia would have been transferred to ICE adult detention, her Child Advocate jumped into action and advocated for her release to a youth transitional housing program.

Today, Sofia is adjusting to a more independent style of living, while her Child Advocate continues to support her ongoing asylum case. As a token of her appreciation towards her Child Advocate, Sofia gifted her this beautiful painting depicting her dreams.

Note: To protect children’s privacy, we rarely share their real names publicly. We’ve done so here with Sofia’s permission.

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