Migrant children are coming to Denver without parents, a representative of Urban Peak said Wednesday during an online seminar presented by Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.
Benjamin Kinghorn, director of shelter services for Uban Peak, said the homeless shelter has seen immigrants under 18 arriving in Denver without parents. Sometimes they make the trek from a foreign land with a relative and things don’t work out, Kinghorn said.
“Unaccompanied youth from other countries coming to Denver is a lot higher now,” said Kinghorn. Alexis Witham, who moderated the seminar for the Coalition, said most of Denver’s homeless support systems were not set up to serve migrants. Kinghorn agreed. He said Urban Peak has pivoted to serve the migrant influx. He said the shelter’s new building, known as “The Mothership,” has six communities, or sets of non-congregant shelter rooms where there are pod-like dormitories have. One community is just for migrants.
He said it can get complicated because Urban Peak requires parental consent for minors to stay in the shelter. He said many shelter clients, migrants and otherwise, don’t want to give the shelter their parents’ contact information. If the shelter can’t obtain it in 72 hours, they must contact child protective services, Kinghorn said. “We’ve had some pretty good success.”