Dear AACAP Member,
 
As we all know from the headlines, thousands of immigrant children have been separated from their parents at the Texas-Mexico border. As a medical association representing physicians dedicated to the health of children and families around the globe, we know how important it is that these vulnerable children get the care and treatment they desperately need.
 
How can AACAP help?
 
AACAP has compiled a list of organizations and service agencies currently on the ground or mobilizing to help. In addition, we’ve included links from AACAP member groups, as well as resources from the American Psychiatric Association. If you know of member activity, or other organizations working at the border, please let us know, and we will be sure to add to the list.
 
AACAP does not have any direct affiliation or official relationships with the organizations and service agencies included in the list. If you would like to offer your services, please contact the organizations directly following the links below.
 
If you have questions, please contact AACAP’s Communications Office directly via email at communications@aacap.org.
 
Sincerely,

Karen Dineen Wagner, MD, PhD
President, AACAP

Organizations & Service Agencies

The American Psychiatric Association posted several links to organizations and service agencies helping at the border. They include:

• Catholic Charities of Archdiocese of Boston
  Refugee and Immigration Services
• Catholic Charities of Baltimore
• Su Casa Hispanic Center
  Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio
• Physicians for Human Rights (PHR)
  PHR strives to empower and support local communities in documenting and preventing human rights violations. PHR has developed partnerships with local health and human rights groups across the globe, forging strong aliances and sharing common frameworks and strategies.
• Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS)
  LIRS and its partners are on the ground meeting newly-reunited families with immediate support, including food, shelter, clothing, and services.

Additional Links:

• Children's Psychological Health Center
  AACAP member, Dr. Gilbert Kilman is actively recruiting mental health practitioners nationwide to help with evaluation and testimony services in collaboration with attorneys on the ground in Texas.
• Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project
  Works to prevent the deportation of asylum-seeking families fleeing violence.
• South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project
  Provides free legal services to asylum seekers detained in South Texas.
• RAICES
  Provides free and low-cost legal services to immigrant children, families and refugees in Texas
• Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)
  Partners with major law firms, corporations, and bar associations to create a nationwide pro bono network to represent unaccompanied children through their immigration proceedings
• The Austin Bar Association Civil Right and Immigration Section
  Coordinates training for pro bono attorneys to handle credible fear interviews for asylum seekers.
• Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley
  Shelters immigrants who've recently been released from U.S. Border Patrol custody.
• Office of Refugee Resettlement
  Requires that all people who want to foster one of the unaccompanied immigrant children be fully licensed by their state.
• Human Rights Initiative of North Texas
  Represents asylum seekers as well as unaccompanied minors - including those separated from parents.
• Las Posada Providencia
  Runs a shelter for people who have applied for asylum and been released from detention centers while their cases are pending.
• Children's Immigration Law Academy
  Represents children in immigration-related proceedings with pro bono attorneys. It also provides specialized training to legal service providers and volunteers who are serving unaccompanied immigrant children.
• Migrant Center for Human Rights
  Provides free and low-cost legal services for detained asylum seekers in Texas
• Jewish Community Relations Council, Boston (JCRC)
  To get involved in sanctuary, accompaniment, or providing legal services contact Rachel Lewis, JCRC Senior Synagogue Organizer @ 617.457.8653 or rlewis@jcrcboston.org

What are we missing? Let us know at communications@aacap.org .

AACAP Dislcaimer:

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