Department Of Health And Human Services: Lackland Air Force Base

Office Of Refugee Resettlement Dept: While the issue of unaccompanied minors arriving in the U.S. isn't new, the scale of the recent increase is. From October 2011 through March, 5,252 kids landed in U.S. custody without a parent or guardian -- a 93 per cent increase from the same period the previous year, according to data released by the Department of Health and Human Services. In March alone, 1,390 kids arrived, according to CTV. The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement facilities in 10 states range from shelters to foster homes and have about 2,500 beds. Government-contracted shelters were maxing out their emergency bed space, setting up cots in gymnasiums and other extra spaces and the influx came to light last week when 100 kids were taken to Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio for temporary housing. It was the first time the government has turned to the Defense Department -- now, 200 boys and girls younger than 18 stay in a base dormitory. "The whole community right now is in triage mode," said Wendy Young, executive director of Kids in Need of Defense, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that matches pro bono attorneys with unaccompanied minors navigating the immigration system. "It's important that the resources and the capacity meet the need, and we're not quite there yet." (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.