FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Tuesday, January 17, 2023 

Media Contact: media@theyoungcenter.org 

Washington D.C.— The Young Center is thrilled to be the recipients of a $600,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to support the work of its Technical Assistance Program and Child Advocate Program on healing and reducing the traumatization of unaccompanied and separated immigrant children within and outside federal government custody. Funding from the WKKF grant will span the next three years and provide critical support in bolstering the Young Center’s efforts to protect the rights and safety of immigrant children, ensure equitable access to language and cultural connection, and reunify separated families. 

Marisa Chumil and Olivia Peña, Co-Directors of the Young Center’s Child Advocate Program, said: 

“For years, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation has demonstrated a longstanding commitment to supporting the rights of all children, regardless of their immigration status. As champions for immigrant children, the Young Center is honored to receive this grant, which will undeniably help advance our child-centered, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive advocacy. Every day, our staff and volunteer Child Advocates work collaboratively and alongside children in government custody to champion and protect their well-being, wishes, and rights as they navigate our country’s immigration system. We have no doubts this funding will help propel the Child Advocate Program’s mission forward in ways that immigrant children and families will continue to feel every day.” 

Kelly Albinak Kribs and Shaina Simenas, Co-Directors of the Young Center’s Technical Assistance Program, said: 

"When we launched the Young Center’s Technical Assistance Program last year, we hit the ground running and worked quickly to develop this new program dedicated to improving the outcomes for immigrant children caught in state child welfare and juvenile detention systems. As we enter this new year, we are eager to connect the Technical Assistance Program’s resources directly to the professionals and court advocates serving immigrant children across these state court systems. The WKKF grant will critically expand our capacity to hire new teammates, receive and respond to more requests for assistance, and enable us to capture and analyze data and metrics that will further inform our program’s development over the long-term.” 

### 

The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights is a non-profit organization that protects and advances the rights and best interests of immigrant children and advocates for an immigration system that treats children as children first. For press inquiries, please contact Anabel Mendoza at media@theyoungcenter.org 

 
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal innovator and entrepreneur Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life. The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Michigan, and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special attention is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti. For more information, visit www.wkkf.org.