Immigration and the Dependency System

Course Description

This course will provide a better understanding for the primary goal of the dependency court system which is to achieve permanency for our children in care and equip our young adults with independent living skills.

Under the law, this goal extends to citizen and non-citizen children alike, regardless of their immigration status. Without lawful status, a child is generally unable to pursue post-secondary education (ineligible for federal financial aid), employment (not authorized to work in the U.S.) or health insurance through public programs such as Medicaid, the PBC Health Care District, and the Affordable Care Act.

A youth without lawful status faces a dead end after graduating high school and aging out of DCF custody, thereby losing any progress made towards achieving permanency and stability.

This training aims at giving advocates and attorneys the ability to:

Recognize if/when immigration status is a relevant factor in Juvenile Court
Understand basic immigration terms and reliefs available to dependent children
Identify red flags indicating a child/youth's need for need for immigration assistance

Guardian ad Litem staff and volunteers, the Optima training category for this course is "Legal Issues".

Esq.

Maryam Kassaee

Maryam Kassaee is an attorney at Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County, Inc. (Legal Aid) and a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. She has practiced law since 2009 and holds licenses in good standing in three states, including Florida. Prior to moving to Florida, Maryam represented parents of children in juvenile court proceedings. In Florida, she initially served as an attorney at the Statewide Guardian Ad Litem Program in West Palm Beach. In 2015, Maryam joined Legal Aid where she represents abused, abandoned, and neglected children and youth in Palm Beach County who are in need of immigration assistance.The project receives its referrals from Juvenile Court parties and represents dependent children and youth before various agencies including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), and Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). The interplay of juvenile law and immigration law results in daily collaboration between the project and Juvenile Court parties. As a result of Legal Aid’s representation, many dependent children and youth have obtained wider access to healthcare and tools to independence and permanency such as ability to pursue higher education and employment.Maryam is passionate about educational outreaches and has previously presented before advocates, attorneys, dependency case managers, judges, and parents on topics involving immigration and juvenile law.

Course curriculum

1

Immigration and the Dependency System
- Juvenile court and Immigration (Webinar)
- Juvenile Court and Immigration (PowerPoint)
- What some docs look like...(Hand out)
- Webinar Survey

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