The Boaz Organization for Youth

ment and inspiration to youth so that they may pursue their dreams. We are a pending nonprofit organization formed to serve immigrant youth who have crossed the U.S. border without a parent or guardian, otherwise known as “unaccompanied minors.”

Last year, 32,280 unaccompanied minors were apprehended at U.S. borders, which was almost three times as many as the year before, and five times as many as two years before (according to US Customs and Border Protection). In 2014, there was a major surge of incoming children from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, as escalating violence in these countries has made life intolerable and so dangerous that children and teens must flee. Refugee youth escaping warzones or persecution in South Asia, the Middle East and Africa continue to arrive unaccompanied at U.S. Social service and legal organizations in New York City have scrambled to meet the needs of these young clients, but have been stretched to their limits due to the almost three-fold increase in demand. In July 2014, Justice Department officials announced a national initiative to prioritize the legal cases of unaccompanied minors, and the number of prioritized cases was so large that it pushed aside all regularly scheduled immigration cases to 2017 and beyond. Over a year later, while unaccompanied minors continue to cross the border at a very high rate, social service and legal agencies are still trying to catch up. Unaccompanied minors in New York City are often not receiving the assistance they need, due simply to the sheer volume of cases that overwhelms the capacity of the agencies designated to support them. The Boaz Organization for Youth was created to locate and assist unaccompanied youth who are not receiving the care they need and deserve. What do unaccompanied minors in New York City need, and how does the Boaz Organization for Youth plan to assist them? These young clients, and the adult sponsors who care for them when they arrive in the US, usually lack knowledge of vital information and resources, such as the immigration court processes, US law pertaining to immigration cases, how to find a pro bono attorney, how to enroll in school, how to obtain medical insurance, and where to receive mental health and medical services. We will provide them with information and resources in these categories, as well as refer them to the services that are most convenient for them according to their need and location. Additionally, depending on the youth’s background and their relation to the adult caregiver, some family mediation may be necessary in order to ensure an enduring bond and successful reunification. It is sometimes challenging for children and teenagers to feel integrated into a new family, and for the family to adjust comfortably to a sudden new addition to the home. Assistance in navigating these delicate familial transitions is often necessary. At the Boaz Organization for Youth’s headquarters, we will empower our clients in three ways: by providing support, education and advocacy. Please see our “Services” page for further details. What sets the Boaz Organization for Youth apart from other organizations? Serving as ambassadors for the field, we strive to make social work more accessible to a community of non-social workers, professionals and students. We want to highlight commonalities between us all, creating a collaborative environment where we can work together as well as share times of leisure. Our business model, fundraising strategy and internal management are entrepreneurial, borrowing from the tech field, for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations. We hope to be an example of a cutting-edge and adaptable social service agency. We believe that people do their best work when they are relaxed, feel respected, heard, and cared for, and have the freedom to be innovative. The Boaz Organization for Youth puts the highest priority on fostering such an environment for social service workers for two main reasons: 1) Burnout, compassion fatigue and secondary trauma are rampant in the social work community, and we believe that it is the employer’s responsibility to address these issues seriously; 2) We believe that if we apply a model to social services agencies that has been successful for the most competitive tech and finance companies to encourage innovation, there are no limits to the creative solutions that we can produce collectively. We have chosen to take an entrepreneurial approach to funding our work. A portion of our funding will come from a high end fashion online retailer that donates all of its profits to the Boaz Organization for Youth. We will also have a fundraising entity, the Optimist Society, hosting events regularly. Our status as a non-profit organization is pending.