Preparing for Costs of Unaccompanied Children Influx

As thousands of unaccompanied children continue to cross into the United States from Central America, local governments throughout the country are bracing themselves for a considerable financial impact. As of July 31, nearly 40,000 unaccompanied children had been released to sponsors in various states since the start of 2014. While the federal government takes financial responsibility for children being housed in shelters, its involvement ends once those children are placed with sponsors. At that point, the cost of providing children and their families with education and health services until their immigration hearing takes place—sometimes years later—falls on local governments. Many local officials are concerned about the financial stress this will place on their communities…Read more here.