Earning the trust of a child, any age, in a short period of time is no easy feat. Every child CAIR Coalition serves has a different story, and it is our responsibility to learn each story in order to better the child’s ultimate goals. Every day, we face new challenges on how to best build a comfortable rapport with the brave children we serve. Here are some tips we have learned along the way.
Last year I had the honor of representing a child, Andre*, who was detained in a high-security detention center we serve. Andre was a very sweet young man, always greeting me with a smile and a firm handshake, patient with my lack of street-smart Spanish, and incredibly honest and open in describing his past experiences.
As a result of the rise in unaccompanied children coming into the United States in the 1980s and 1990s, there was litigation centered around detention conditions for children, resulting in the Flores Settlement Agreement in 1997. As one piece of that settlement, the United States government recognized the particular vulnerability of children and stated that they would place detained immigrant children in the least restrictive setting given their age and special needs.
During 
This month CAIR Coalition is focusing the spotlight on our