Annual Report
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2015 Annual Report www.supportkind.org Vision Statement KIND serves as the leading organization for the protection of children who enter the U.S. immigration system alone and strives to ensure that no such child appears in immigration court without representation. We achieve fundamental fairness through high-quality legal representation and by advancing the child’s best interests, safety, and well-being. KIND Annual Report 2014 2 KIND Annual Report 2015 2 Table of Contents Letter from Board Chair Brad Smith ..................................................................... 4 KIND Facts ............................................................................................................... 5 The New Normal ....................................................................................................... 6 Creative Partnerships ............................................................................................... 7 Protecting Children in Central America and Mexico ........................................... 8 Sexual and Gender-Based Violence ....................................................................... 9 2015 Gala — Coming Together for Children Alone ............................................ 10 Celebrating Washington State’s Protection of Children Alone ...........................11 The KIND Experience .............................................................................................. 12 KIND Expands Online Engagement ...................................................................... 13 Snapshot: Stories from around the Country ......................................................... 14 Leadership ................................................................................................................. 16 KIND Partners ......................................................................................................... 18 Sources of Funding .................................................................................................. 21 A Very Special Thanks To ....................................................................................... 22 Financials .................................................................................................................. 23 KIND Annual Report 2015 3 Letter from Board Chair Children continue to flee Central In 2015, KIND more than doubled the Northern Triangle countries, America alone in high numbers the size of our legal services staff; and will make recommendations to to find safety from gangs and we added two new offices—in San countries of origin, transit, and narco-traffickers who threaten, Francisco and Atlanta—bringing destination on how to better attack, rape, and kill them. In our total to 10 offices nationwide. protect these children. fact, the migration of tens of We placed 34 percent more cases thousands of children each year with attorneys in 2015 than in Together we are working to create is no longer unprecedented—it’s 2014, and reached a total of a system that represents a true the new normal. nearly 11,000 attorneys trained safety net so that no child will since 2009. ever have to appear in immigration Violence in Central America court alone, and to restore stability remains rampant. El Salvador KIND also recognizes that the to Central America so that children has unseated Honduras as the safety of refugee and immigrant can enjoy their childhood in safety most murderous country in the children knows no borders and is and freedom. The extraordinary world, and Guatemala is not far not confined to the court room. growth of KIND and the significant behind them both. A civil war We have been growing our work increase in the number of children and refugee crisis is taking shape in the region to promote and we can now serve is thanks to on our back doorstep. deliver protection. We prepared all of you and your continued for the launch in 2016 of a first-of- commitment. We look forward This means that KIND and its its-kind project to provide Central to another year of working together comprehensive approach to legal American children seeking refugee to ensure that unaccompanied services, on-the-ground programs status through the U.S. Central children are protected as all in the Northern Triangle of Central American Minors refugee children deserve to be, wherever America, media outreach, and resettlement program access to a they are from. advocacy directed at policymakers pro bono attorney. We are working is needed now more than ever. to address the root causes of child And we have risen to the challenge. migration by engaging in research, particularly to support effective KIND has grown significantly to Brad Smith better address this “new normal” programming that addresses sexual and gender-based violence against and the broadening protection President and Chief Legal Officer, migrant children. KIND has been concerns unaccompanied children Microsoft Corporation face. We are working not just interviewing migrant children from to change the lives of individual Northern Triangle countries, children; we are also working to government officials, and key civil change the world in which they live. society actors from Mexico and KIND Annual Report 2015 4 KIND Facts 2015 11,000 Attorneys $124 Million in 70 Countries Pro Bono Legal Services Trained KIND has worked with KIND had trained more than KIND has received more than 265,456 children from 70 countries. 11,000 lawyers by the end of 2015. pro bono hours totaling more than $124 million in services from 2009-2015. 8,400 Referrals 269 Partners 31% more children 8,400 children were referred KIND had partnered with 269 law represented to KIND by the end of 2015. firms, corporate legal departments, The number of unaccompanied law schools, and bar associations children with lawyers nationally by the end of 2015. rose from 30% to 61% between 2014 and 2015; KIND played a significant role in this success. KIND Annual Report 2015 5 The New Normal The number of children coming to address the root causes of violent deaths of women increased alone from Central America the children’s flight, namely 260% between 2005 and 2013. dropped for a time in 2015, as the growing violence in Children are targeted by gangs, compared to 2014, due to the Central America. narco-traffickers, and other criminal increased apprehension and elements that their governments Increasing Violence deportation of unaccompanied are unable or unwilling to control in Central America children by Mexican officials with and are at great risk. Many could support from the United States. El Salvador, Honduras, and qualify for international protection But starting in late summer 2015, Guatemala are among the top if given the opportunity to share the numbers started rising five most violent countries in their story. significantly again and continued the world due to gang and other Due Process: Progress to increase to the end of the year, organized criminal violence. El but More Needed and beyond. Nearly 40,000 Salvador unseated Honduras as unaccompanied children came to the most murderous country in The good news is that the the United States in Fiscal Year the Western Hemisphere. number of unaccompanied (FY) 2015, as compared to more children with lawyers nationally than 68,000 in FY 2014. The FY 260% increase rose to 61 percent in 2015 from 2015 number is still exponentially In Honduras, violent deaths a low of nearly 30 percent in higher than the historic average of of women increased 260% 2014. KIND played a significant 6,000 - 8,000 pre-2011. More between 2005 and 2013. role in this success. Thanks to than 150,000 unaccompanied the tremendous generosity of children have come to the U.S. Between 2011 and 2014, San our donors and volunteers, since 2014. It seems that we have Pedro Sula, Honduras’s second KIND was able to take more entered a new normal, in which largest city, was the most violent children’s cases, and to help tens of thousands of vulnerable city of over 300,000 people in them in vital ways beyond children come alone to the United the world. These countries rank their legal services needs. States each year seeking safety. first, third, and seventh, respectively, for rates of female The rising numbers are not a homicides globally. In Honduras, surprise. Little has been done Increasing KIND’s Capacity NEW! Social Services • Nearly doubled the pro bono contributions from our Most of the children referred to KIND private sector partners in the legal community have suffered tremendous trauma in their home countries and on their • More than doubled the size of our legal services staff journeys to the United States. They • Added two new offices—in San Francisco and Atlanta— have serious non-legal needs, such bringing our total to 10 field offices nationwide as access to medical and mental health care, school enrollment, counseling • Received support to add social services coordinators to services, and housing assistance. To help access these help children with mental health and other needs critical services, KIND received support to place social service coordinators in three of our offices; our goal is to have one in every office. KIND Annual Report 2015 6 Creative Partnerships Winning a Landmark Case in New Jersey Matt Boxer, Partner at Lowenstein Sandler LLP in New Jersey represented KIND, American Friends Service Committee, and the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, at the New Jersey State Supreme Court to ensure legal protections are upheld for abused, abandoned, and neglected