104 
rials necessary to effectively advocate for the best in-
terest of the child. The child advocate shall not be 
compelled to testify or provide evidence in any pro-
ceeding concerning any information or opinion re-
ceived from the child in the course of serving as a 
child advocate. The child advocate shall be presumed 
to be acting in good faith and be immune from civil 
and criminal liability for lawful conduct of duties as 
described in this paragraph. 
(e) PERMANENT PROTECTION FOR CERTAIN AT-RISK 
CHILDREN.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 101(a)(27)(J) of the 
Immigration 
and 
Nationality 
Act 
(8 
U.S.C. 
1101(a)(27)(J)) is amended— 
(A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘State and 
who has been deemed eligible by that court for 
long-term foster care due to abuse, neglect, or 
abandonment;’’ and inserting ‘‘State, or an in-
dividual or entity appointed by a State or juve-
nile court located in the United States, and 
whose reunification with one or both of the im-
migrant’s parents is not viable due to abuse, 
neglect, abandonment, or a similar basis found 
under State law;’’;
105 
(B) in clause (iii), in the matter preceding 
subclause (I), by striking ‘‘the Attorney General 
expressly consents to the dependency order 
serving as a precondition to the grant of special 
immigrant juvenile status;’’ and inserting ‘‘the 
Secretary of Homeland Security consents to the 
grant of special immigrant juvenile status,’’; 
and 
(C) in clause (iii)(I), by striking ‘‘in the 
actual or constructive custody of the Attorney 
General unless the Attorney General specifically 
consents to such jurisdiction;’’ and inserting ‘‘in 
the custody of the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services unless the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services specifically consents to 
such jurisdiction;’’. 
(2) 
ADJUSTMENT
OF
STATUS.—Section 
245(h)(2)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1255(h)(2)(A)) is amended to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(A) 
paragraphs 
(4), 
(5)(A), 
(6)(A), 
(6)(C), (6)(D), (7)(A), and (9)(C)(i)(I) of sec-
tion 212(a) shall not apply; and’’. 
(3) ELIGIBILITY
FOR
ASSISTANCE.—A child 
who has been granted special immigrant status
106 
under section 101(a)(27)(J) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(J)) and who 
was either in the custody of the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services at the time a dependency order 
was granted for such child or who was receiving 
services pursuant to section 501(a) of the Refugee 
Education Assistance Act of 1980 (8 U.S.C. 1522 
note) at the time such dependency order was grant-
ed, shall be eligible for placement and services under 
section 412(d) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1522(d)) until the earlier of— 
(A) the date on which the child reaches the 
age designated in section 412(d)(2)(B) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1522(d)(2)(B)); or 
(B) the date on which the child is placed 
in a permanent adoptive home. 
(4) 
STATE
COURTS
ACTING
IN
LOCO 
PARENTIS.—A department or agency of a State, or 
an individual or entity appointed by a State court or 
juvenile court located in the United States, acting in 
loco parentis, shall not be considered a legal guard-
ian for purposes of this section or section 462 of the 
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279).
107 
(5) TRANSITION
RULE.—Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, an alien described in section 
101(a)(27)(J) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(J)), as amended by para-
graph (1), may not be denied special immigrant sta-
tus under such section after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act based on age if the alien was a 
child on the date on which the alien applied for such 
status. 
(6) ACCESS
TO
ASYLUM
PROTECTIONS.—Sec-
tion 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1158) is amended— 
(A) in subsection (a)(2), by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(E) APPLICABILITY.—Subparagraphs (A) 
and (B) shall not apply to an unaccompanied 
alien child (as defined in section 462(g) of the 
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 
279(g))).’’; and 
(B) in subsection (b)(3), by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(C) INITIAL JURISDICTION.—An asylum 
officer (as defined in section 235(b)(1)(E)) 
shall have initial jurisdiction over any asylum 
application filed by an unaccompanied alien
108 
child (as defined in section 462(g) of the Home-
land Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 279(g))), 
regardless of whether filed in accordance with 
this section or section 235(b).’’. 
(7) SPECIALIZED NEEDS OF CHILDREN.—Appli-
cations for asylum and other forms of relief from re-
moval in which a child is the principal applicant 
shall be governed by regulations which take into ac-
count the specialized needs of children and which ad-
dress both procedural and substantive aspects of 
handling children’s cases. 
(f) TRAINING.—The Secretary of State, the Secretary 
of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services and the Attorney General shall provide 
specialized training to all Federal personnel who come into 
contact with unaccompanied alien children. Such per-
sonnel shall be trained to work with unaccompanied alien 
children, including identifying children who are a victim 
of a severe form of trafficking in persons, and children 
for whom asylum or special immigrant relief may be ap-
propriate, including children described in subsection 
(b)(2). 
(g) AMENDMENTS
TO
THE HOMELAND SECURITY 
ACT OF 2002.—
109 
(1) ADDITIONAL
RESPONSIBILITIES.—Section 
462(b)(1)(L) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 
(6 U.S.C. 279(b)(1)(L)) is amended by striking the 
period at the end and inserting ‘‘, including regular 
follow-up visits to such facilities, placements, and 
other entities, to assess the continued suitability of 
such placements.’’. 
(2) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.—Section 462(b) 
of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 
279(b)) is amended— 
(A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘para-
graph (1)(G),’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1),’’; 
and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
paragraph (2)(B) may be construed to require that 
a bond be posted for an unaccompanied alien child 
who is released to a qualified sponsor.’’. 
(h) 
DEFINITION
OF
UNACCOMPANIED
ALIEN 
CHILD.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘unaccom-
panied alien child’’ has the meaning given such term in 
section 462(g) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 
U.S.C. 279(g)).