Navigating Federal Change: A Closer Look at Legal Representation and Community Response for Unaccompanied Children

A special cross-over webinar co-hosted by PSW's

Civic and Community Engagement Collaborative and Texas Child Welfare Funders

Harness the Power of Philanthropy for Transformative Change

Navigating Federal Change: A Closer Look at Legal Representation and Community Response for Unaccompanied Children

Hosted with support from Houston Endowment, this special August webinar brings together two long-standing PSW learning communities—our Civic and Community Engagement Collaborative and Texas Child Welfare Funders —to explore a pressing issue at the intersection of child welfare, legal representation, and community response. Designed for foundation leaders and staff, the conversation will examine how recent changes to federal funding have disrupted the longstanding network providing legal representation to unaccompanied children.

Moderated by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the conversation will feature executive leaders and legal experts providing counsel and advocacy to those navigating today’s U.S. immigration system, bringing together frontline perspectives from communities across Texas with a national view of the evolving legal landscape and its implications for unaccompanied children. Grounded in data and the latest developments, the discussion will provide context on emerging gaps in access to counsel, examine how communities are responding, and equip funders with a comprehensive understanding of the implications of a rapidly evolving federal funding landscape.

Register Now | August 26, 2026 | 10 AM to 11 AM CST

Featured Organizations

W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Children's Immigration Law Academy of the American Bar Association
Estrella del Paso
Galveston-Houston Immigrant Representation Project
Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights

Meet the Speakers

Dalia Castillo-Granados, Director and Co-Founder, Children's Immigration Law Academy

Dalia is the director and co-founder of the Children’s Immigration Law Academy (CILA), a project of the American Bar Association (ABA) Commission on Immigration. Dalia is a frequent speaker on Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) and led the effort at the ABA to advocate for deferred action for SIJS youth stuck in the visa backlog. Prior to working at CILA, Dalia was a senior attorney at Kids in Need of Defense, a staff attorney at Tahirih Justice Center, a clinical supervising attorney at the University of Houston’s Immigration Clinic, and a Greenberg Traurig, LLP Equal Justice Works fellow at Catholic Charities’ Cabrini Center. Throughout her career, Dalia has represented hundreds of children in their immigration proceedings and before Texas state courts. Dalia is also active in her community. She is on the steering committee for the End SIJS Backlog Coalition, the advisory board for the National Immigration Litigation Alliance (NILA), and a board member of the Galveston-Houston Immigrant Representation Project (GHIRP). Dalia was also the 2023-2024 president of the Houston Association of Women Attorneys (AWA).

Gladis Molina, Executive Director, The Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights

Gladis is a native of El Salvador and was brought to the U.S. in 1990 (at age 10) and settled in Los Angeles County. She was granted Lawful Permanent Status in 2001. The experience of being an undocumented immigrant child and young adult inspired Gladis to become an immigration attorney and advocate on behalf of immigrant children. Gladis received her B.A. from California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) in 2002 and her J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2006. Gladis first began working with immigrant children in 2005 as a summer law clerk for Catholic Charities in Los Angeles. After law school, she continued working with immigrant children as a staff attorney for the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project (ProBAR) in the Rio Grande Valley. In 2008, she joined Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) in Los Angeles as a pro bono coordinator. In 2011, Gladis moved to Phoenix to serve as a managing attorney for the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project (FIRRP), again focusing on children’s cases. As an attorney, Gladis has represented children in Immigration Court and Juvenile Court. In 2016, Gladis joined the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights (Young Center) as part of its Child Advocate Program. In 2021, the Young Center’s Board of Directors hired Gladis to lead the Young Center’s Executive Team. In this capacity, Gladis works with colleagues across the Young Center’s three programs towards a world in which the best interests of non-citizen children in the United States are considered by government and other decision-makers. She also works with colleagues to ensure the Young Center’s services and advocacy align with the voices of the immigrant children it serves as well as the Young Center staff who work directly with the children and volunteers.

Melissa Lopez, Executive Director, Estrella del Paso

Ms. Lopez was born and raised in El Paso. She graduated from Coronado High School, and later earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science with a Minor in Professional Writing and Rhetoric from the University of Texas at El Paso in May 2004. After graduating from UTEP, Ms. Lopez attended law school at the University of Texas School of Law graduating with a Doctor of Jurisprudence in May 2007. Upon graduating, Ms. Lopez returned to her native El Paso to work as a Staff Attorney at Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services, Inc. She has been a practicing immigration attorney ever since. In her early days at DMRS, she represented individuals in removal (deportation) proceedings, especially survivors of Domestic Violence. Ms. Lopez received the El Paso Bar Association’s Professionalism Award in 2011. In September 2012, she assumed the role of Interim Executive Director and, in February 2013, the Executive Director. During her tenure, the size of the Estrella del Paso staff has more than doubled. She is in high demand to present topics on immigration both locally and nationally, including presentations at the 2013 Spring Conference for the Dallas Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care, the 2016 Texas Poverty Law Conference, and the 2019 American Immigration Lawyers Association National Conference. She regularly presents at the Mexican Consulate, other community presentations, and many similar addresses. She hosted a weekly radio show, Amor al Migrante, which aired on the Bridge, El Paso’s Catholic Radio Station, for over two years. www.estrelladelpaso.org

About the Civic and Community Engagement Collaborative

Philanthropy plays a vital role in driving positive change by uniting the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. The Civic & Community Engagement Collaborative (CCE) is designed to empower philanthropic organizations in the southwestern U.S. to become catalysts for transformative impact. Each webinar in the Collaborative series will feature southwest funders in dialogue with nationally recognized organizations, sharing successes, strategies, and lessons learned from their partnerships to strengthen civic engagement and bring communities together across the region.

About Texas Child Welfare Funders

Private funders are an important voice in the child welfare system, and the Texas Child Welfare Funders provides a statewide forum for funders to collectively understand the landscape of child welfare and identify ways to partner and invest with one another to benefit children, youth, and families. Together, we can improve systems and services in our communities that serve children and families.