The Education Department serves all ORR eligible populations (Refugees, Humanitarian Parolees, as well as Cuban and Haitian Entrants)
YOUTH SERVICES 📞 908.409.3482: IRC provides the following youth services for ages 5-19, including ESL tutoring, youth mentoring for ages 17-19, and the Newcomer Youth Summer Academy (August). Please request services through your Youth Caseworker.
After an intake is completed, the Youth Education team will assign a youth caseworker to you and assist with enrolling your child/children into school. During this process, youth caseworkers will collect documents from caseworkers and clinics, schedule meetings with schools to enroll students, attend meetings with parent(s), and attend the first day of school with the student(s).
Please understand that school enrollment services will be completed as soon as possible, but do depend on and can be delayed by factors like permanent housing, completing medical appointments, and obtaining previous school records.
The Youth Education team also provides case management services to families. This will consist of assistance with contacting schools, applying for free lunch, arranging meetings with school staff, special education advocacy, summer school enrollment, referrals to outside services such as tutoring, counseling, and medical specialists, one time uniform assistance, and provide students with a single backpack that contains school supplies.
The Youth Education team will provide advocacy and support services for approximately 3 years with a maximum of 5 years after arrival.
Once your child/children have been enrolled and started school, the Youth Program Specialist will contact you and ask if you are interested in participating in a school orientation presentation. During this orientation, the Youth Program Specialist will provide school specific information including school policies and procedures, schedules, calendars, absence policies, U.S. grading system, standardized testing, school food, transportation, school uniforms, school closings, interpretation services, bullying, accessing the Parent Portal, and school personnel information.
If interested in having your child/children participate in afterschool programs throughout the school year or summer programming, please look through our available programming and complete the forms. The Youth Program Specialist will follow up with you about program details and registration.