Office of Refugee Resettlement – serving in a different capacity

Courtesy Photo | Ricardo “Rico” Garcia, a civilian member of the Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense since 2006, and his wife, Debbie, pose for a photo.  

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, UNITED STATES

08.02.2021

Courtesy Story

U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command

By Lt. Col. Alissa Modrow

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado – As the number of unaccompanied children increases along the southern United States border, the Office of Refugee Resettlement has requested current federal civilian employees volunteer for deployments as temporary assistance.

Ricardo “Rico” Garcia, a civilian member of the Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense since 2006, has volunteered to lend his expertise to this humanitarian effort with the full support of the JFCC IMD command.

Volunteers deploy for up to 120 days to supervise children, assess their needs, conduct interviews, and enable the National Call Center to contact biological relatives within the United States for placement. Starting in Irving, Texas, for in-processing and training, volunteers can be sent to any number of locations along the Southern border to provide assistance.

After becoming aware of the prospect via news media and discussing it with his wife Debbie, both retired members of the Air Force, Garcia started the volunteer process in March. He believes that his military and civil service, background in human resources, bilingual capability, and ability to see both sides of the border issues will aid in his success as a volunteer. No stranger to assisting others, Garcia has volunteered with children as a coach, tutor, and scout leader as well as organizing meals at local homeless shelters.

“I want to do my part to serve in a different capacity,” said Garcia. “I’m specifically worried about the women and children.”

This will be his first volunteer opportunity that will take him away from home.

ORR has placed more than 400,000 children since it became responsible for them under the Homeland Security Act of 2002 with greatly increasing numbers after 2012. As of May 2, there were 22,264 unaccompanied minors in Health and Human Service care. At the end of March, the average stay before placement with appropriate sponsors was 35 days. As soon as children are put in ORR care, the process of finding a sponsor begins, with the majority being a parent or close family relative in the United States.

Awaiting administrative processes associated with volunteering, Garcia could be called at any time to his new temporary post with as little as 48 hours to report. His family has prepared as best they can, knowing that his wife, three adult children and three grandchildren will take care of one another in his absence.

Garcia sees this as an opportunity to serve in a role unlike any other in his previous military career and deployments, and his civilian position within the JFCC IMD J6. He hopes that by volunteering, he is able to assist the most vulnerable portion of this population.

“The young children are innocent victims in this process, and if I can help, I want to,” Garcia said.

• Date Taken: 08.02.2021
• Date Posted: 08.02.2021 14:59
• Story ID: 402238
• Location: COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, US