Information for documented or undocumented children and youth

Guide for any immigrant children and youth (see PDF document below)

Protect your children if you are detained or deported

• Make a Family Preparedness Plan. Click for a guide in English and Spanish.
• Go to Detained or Deported: What about my children (see PDF document below) to download a guide for detained and deported immigrant and undocumented mothers and fathers with crucial information to protect and maintain parental rights and make well-informed, critical decisions regarding the care and welfare of their children. It includes information on how to get a lawyer, how to stay in touch with children, and how to participate in family court or child welfare hearings.
• Ask an adult relative or friend to fill out a Caregiver’s Authorization Affidavit (CAA) to help them enroll your children in school and make medical decisions for them if you are detained and separated from your children. Learn more about Caregiver's Authorization Affidavits (see PDF document below) and get a link to a CAA form your friend or relative can fill out. Keep in mind that if the adult who will take care of your children is not a relative, the Caregiver's Authorization Affidavit only gives them the right to make school-related medical decisions.
• Complete an informal consent document to give someone the ability to care for your children. You can use the Consent for minor child to live with a non-parent (see PDF document below). This form also includes a "nomination of probate guardian" which lets a court know that you choose that person to be your child's guardian if necessary. Click to learn more about guardianships. You do not have to use this form, but get help from a lawyer or your court's self-help center if you decide to create your own document.

If a parent is separated from a child

Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR)

Parent Hotline to find a child in ORR care: (800) 203-7001 or text NINOS to 66467 (7 days/week, 24-hours/day)

If a child has been abused or abandoned

Special Immigrant Juvenile Status

Resources and information for immigrant children and youth who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned by a parent

Find someone to help you

The Judicial Council and California Courts do not recommend or endorse the organizations listed below. We are not responsible for them. We give you these links so you can find the help you need.

Bet Tzedek
3250 Wilshire Blvd., 13th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90010
(323) 939-0506

Centro Legal de la Raza
3400 E. 12th Street
Oakland, CA 94601
(510) 437-1554

Visit the website directly here:

https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/immigration/family-resources