(Image source from: www.Patch.com)
New York City agencies on Tuesday proclaimed of offering legal aid, health care and else services to help nearly 300 immigrant children brought to NYC from the southern United States border.
The city will assist the kids, who were separated from their parents under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy toward illegal border crossings, while they are in the care of local federally contracted nonprofit agencies, officials said.
"They're resilient, but they're also frightened, confused, and in some cases clearly traumatized," said David A. Hansell, the commissioner of the city's Administration for Children's Services (ACS), in a statement. "While these children are under the care and legal responsibility of the federal government, they are in New York City now and we are doing everything in our power to make sure they are safe and healthy."
Hansell added saying, the group of kids brought to the city ranges in age from infants to teenagers. They are considered "unaccompanied alien children" in the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, which works to find family sponsors who can take in the children.
The nonprofits render them health care, education, and recreation during the day, and many are living in foster homes, according to ACS.
City agencies have stepped in to render excess help, including training for nonprofit faculty and surrogate parents on how to support children who have been through intense trauma.
The city as well provides "parenting coaching" for adolescent mothers who are caring for infants while separated from their adult parents, ACS said.
The children can acquire health care at the city's public infirmaries and aid connecting them and their potential sponsors with legal services, officials said. They also get art supplies, playthings, and weekly field trips.
The Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs is coordinating the outcome by various city agencies, including ACS, NYC Health + Hospitals, and the departments of Parks and Recreation, Cultural Affairs, and Health and Mental Hygiene.
By Sowmya
