St. Christopher's in New Windsor to provide shelter to 36 undocumented children
NEW WINDSOR − Local nonprofit St. Christopher’s will soon become home to 36 undocumented children, a St. Christopher's spokesperson said.
St. Christopher’s, a residential school for students with special needs, will provide shelter, education, health care, vocational training, mental health services and case management to the undocumented minors through a federal program run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement, according to St. Christopher’s spokesperson Dennis Da Costa.
The program is federally funded, Da Costa said, and the undocumented children − ages 12 to 17 − are expected to arrive in the first half of this year.
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St. Christopher's Youth Residential Treatment Centers, Da Costa said, will be operated completely separate from the unaccompanied children program.
St. Christopher’s is not the first local organization to offer care to undocumented children through the Office of Refugee Resettlement program.
Similar operations are being run at Children’s Home in Poughkeepsie, as well as Children’s Village, Abbott House and Rising Ground in Westchester County.
The program has designated approximately 200 sites in 22 states as care providers, according to a statement from the Office of Refugee Resettlement. These facilities apply to be involved in the program, the statement said, and receive grants from the federal government.
While in program care, undocumented children have access to medical treatment, legal services, translation services, education, and mental and behavioral health counselors, according to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and they are able to connect with family at least twice a week.
While in the care of a facility like St. Christopher's, which has been designated a care provider by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, the process of attempting to find a relative or qualified sponsor to care for the child begins.
The Department of Health and Human Services has been required by law to provide care for undocumented children since 2002, according to the department. These children typically crossed the border without a parent or guardian, according to the department.
Town and county involvement
Town Supervisor George Meyer said he first became aware of St. Christopher's intention to apply to become a care provider in 2022. The nonprofit, he said, asked if he and the town board would provide a letter of support. Meyer chose not to provide the letter because he did not know exactly how the program would work or how it would affect the community.
The letter, Meyer said, was not necessary because the nonprofit is already approved by the town to provide the program's various services. A letter of support would simply have bolstered the nonprofit's application to be involved in the program, he said.
"Obviously we will keep an eye on what's going on with this new program that's going in and if there's any issues, then we'll certainly bring them into line, but there's not a change of use," he said. "It's been a providing (residential and education services)."
Orange County was not involved in the application process, according to county spokesperson Justin Rodriguez.
Erin Nolan is an investigative reporter for the Times Herald-Record and USA Today Network. Reach her at enolan@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: St. Christopher's in New Windsor to care for 36 undocumented children
