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The Center for Children’s Advocacy is pleased to announce the dates for new sessions of our popular seminar series: Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) Training CT Attorneys for Pro-Bono Representation of Immigrant Children ________________________________ SIJS protects undocumented children who have been abandoned, abused or neglected, allowing them to regularize their immigration status in the United States. Legal representation is critical to prevent undocumented children from being returned to a threatening, frightening existence. In response to the growing need for representation in our courts, attorney Edwin Colon, director of the Center for Children’s Advocacy’s Immigrant Children’s Justice Project, is training Connecticut attorneys to provide effective pro-bono representation. Lawyers who register for this program receive 12 hours of legal training in exchange for providing legal representation to one child or youth. Lunch and Resource Materials will be provided. Please plan to attend all three sessions: November 9, 2017 from 12 noon – 4:30 pm November 30, 2017 from 12 noon – 4:30 pm December 14, 2017 from 12 noon – 4:30 pm $250 for all 3 sessions. Click to Register<https://ccact.salsalabs.org/sijsmurthanewhaven2017> CLE credits are available. The seminars are taught by CCA attorney Edwin Colon (bio below), director of the Center’s Immigrant Children’s Justice Project<https://cca-ct.org/our-work/immigration/>. Attorney Colon is Connecticut’s expert on Federal law and Connecticut procedures for SIJS, which helps abused, neglected or abandoned immigrant children regularize their immigration status. Many of these children have fled abuse and neglect and fear being returned to life-threatening conditions. They arrive in the US alone, without a parent or guardian, and need legal representation so they can be safe. Edwin Colon, JD, MSW Director, Immigrant Children's Justice Project Edwin Colon has worked as an attorney at the Center for Children’s Advocacy since 2011. He focuses his practice on the very specific Federal law and Connecticut procedures for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), which helps abused, neglected or abandoned immigrant children regularize their immigration status. Edwin assisted in drafting legislation codifying the SIJS language into Connecticut law, provides substantive legal training and technical assistance to Connecticut attorneys, facilitates roundtable discussions on the needs of new arrivals, and participates in various groups aimed at addressing unmet needs of new arrival youth. In addition to providing legal representation for new arrival children and training Connecticut attorneys on this very specific work, Edwin advocates in the public schools on behalf of immigrant youth who need educational support and are suffering from issues that keep them from academic success. Edwin also runs the Center’s School Based Legal Clinic at Warren G. Harding High School in Bridgeport. He works with young children and with teen clients to resolve legal issues that prevent them from succeeding in school. Edwin served as co-counsel on the two systemic complaints brought by the Center for Children’s Advocacy (October 2013 and August 2015) against Bridgeport Public Schools on behalf of students with disabilities who do not receive the early identification or support they need for academic achievement and future opportunity. Prior to joining the Center for Children’s Advocacy, Edwin was in private practice in Connecticut. He holds a JD from UConn School of Law and a MSW from UConn School of Social Work. He has worked with the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Casey Family Services, providing support for individuals and families involved with the foster care system, and with the Department of Children and Families as an Investigations and Treatment Social Worker on child abuse investigations. Edwin has held faculty positions at the UConn School of Social Work and at Capital Community College, Hartford. Edwin was recently named a 2017 Distinguished Leader by the CT Law Tribune, named a 2013 New Leader in the Law by the CT Law Tribune and one of the “50 Most Influential Latinos in Connecticut” by Latinos United for Professional Advancement in 2014 and 2015. He is a director on the board of the Connecticut Hispanic Bar Association and a member on the board of Connecticut Students for a Dream.