Young people who are pregnant or parenting often have unique challenges navigating Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) custody, especially if they become parents while in detention. This guide is intended to inform you of the rights of pregnant and parenting unaccompanied youth in custody and offer ideas for advocacy, drawing on current ORR policies and regulations.

The primary sources cited in this guide are the ORR Foundational Rule, 45 C.F.R. § 410.1000 et seq., and the ORR Unaccompanied Children Bureau Policy Guide. Care providers may also have additional obligations to youth in detention under state laws and licensing regulations.

This resource provides guidance about how ORR and care providers should treat pregnant and parenting youth under current rules. That said, NCYL anticipates the Trump administration will quickly change ORR policies and may attempt to rescind the ORR Foundational Rule. We will update this resource accordingly as those changes happen.

This guide includes some references to the ORR Manual of Procedures (MAP). A recent version of the MAP can be found at acf.hhs.gov/e-reading-room.

For information about your client’s rights to sexual and reproductive health care services while in ORR custody, see Guide: Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights in ORR Custody.

This page is designed to provide information to you so that you may determine what rights your clients may have and to connect you to relevant resources. This page does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice of any kind, including in a particular case.