Important for 2026, Know Your Rights: Information and Resources for Non-Citizen Youth

Description

(March 2026) 

Foster Parents, Caregivers and Professionals supporting youth will learn about rights of youth, safety planning essentials, and changes for non-citizen youth in 2026. Come learn from immigration and state law professionals who serve many youth in child protection proceedings and will share essential resources for the youth in your care.

Please note, due to technical difficulties the end of this training does not include a recording of the presenters; instead, their slide deck is available for viewing.

Alison Griffith is a supervising attorney with Mid Minnesota Legal Aid’s Immigration Law Team. Alison has assisted hundreds of clients from all over the world in successfully navigating the complex immigration system during her 11 years of law practice and trained and mentored numerous pro bono attorneys. Throughout her career, Alison has dedicated a significant portion of her law practice to work with non-citizen youth.

Pheng Thao joined MMLA’s Youth Law Project (YLP) in 2014 as a Staff Attorney. In 2020, he became the Supervising Attorney for YLP, and in 2022, the Family Law Unit was added under his supervision. Since joining MMLA, Mr. Thao has worked with hundreds of youth clients navigating extremely difficult circumstances. These challenges have included seeking protection from abuse, neglect, or abandonment; accessing housing and resources for homeless youth; identifying options when a minor can no longer safely remain in the home; and assisting with access to education and public benefits. His work has also included matters involving minor consent to health care, the rights of teen and unmarried parents, immigration, and child protection.

For the past seven years, Mr. Thao has also served as a guest speaker for the Homeless Youth course at Mitchell Hamline School of Law.

Misty Coonce (she/her) has served as Minnesota’s first Ombudsperson for Foster Youth since October 2023. She is grounded in her personal experience in foster care and subsequent adoption and her professional experience as a Licensed Independent Social Worker, working directly with and on behalf of foster youth for over 15 years.  In her current role, she acts as the director of the Office of the Foster Youth Ombudsperson, commonly referred to as OOFY. OOFY is a small, independent state agency, which handles complaints from anyone, prioritizing concerns from young people about their rights, care, safety, and placement in Minnesota foster care, including youth in Extended Foster Care and those who have recently aged out of care.

watch time: 54  minutes

Eligible Certificate of Completion time:  50 minutes