(a) Subject to the availability of funding in the act that added this chapter or the annual Budget Act, the department shall contract, as described in Section 13301, with qualified nonprofit legal services organizations to provide legal services to unaccompanied undocumented minors who are transferred to the care and custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement and who are present in this state.

(b) Legal services provided in accordance with subdivision (a) shall be for the sole purpose of providing legal representation to unaccompanied undocumented minors who are in the physical custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement or who are residing with a family member or other sponsor.

Terms Used In California Welfare and Institutions Code 13300

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • custody: means the legal right to custody of the child unless that right is held jointly by two or more persons, in which case "custody" means the physical custody of the child by one of the persons sharing the right to custody. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 17.1

(c) For purposes of this chapter, the term “unaccompanied undocumented minors” means unaccompanied children as described in Section 279(g)(2) of Title 6 of the United States Code.

(d) For purposes of this chapter, the term “legal services” includes culturally and linguistically appropriate services provided by attorneys, paralegals, interpreters and other support staff for state court proceedings, federal immigration proceedings, and any appeals arising from those proceedings.

(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 296, Sec. 70. (AB 1096) Effective January 1, 2022.)

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