Overview
Casa Alianza Honduras (CAH) opened in 1987 and was our second site in Latin America. CAH operates two residential centers in the capital of Tegucigalpa and a program for returning migrants and internally displaced youth in the border town of San Pedro Sula.
Cándida Sauceda is currently the interim national director of Casa Alianza Honduras. She brings nearly 25 years of experience in a senior leadership role at Casa Alianza Honduras and is an integral part of our mission to transform the lives of Honduras’ most vulnerable youth.
Programs unique to Casa Alianza Honduras
Crisis Center
This is the largest residential center of CAH, located in the heart of the capital and taking up an entire city block. The residence has the capacity to provide protection for up to 75 resident boys and girls every night. The center provides the core programs in Covenant House’s Continuum of Care model. As in every Casa Alianza residence, each youth works with staff to create their own Plan de Vida (Life Plan) to guide their progress and identify their goals for the future.
Querubines Home
Querubines Home was opened in 2008 and is dedicated to victims of sexual exploitation and human trafficking. The staff provides care for an average of 30 to 50 girls per year, who stay for varying amounts of time. Always operating at full capacity, the residence is able to house up to 25 girls at any one time. The majority of the victims arrive at Querubines via judicial order from a judge or prosecutor, and Querubines often serves as a safe house for those who need to be hidden from their traffickers. The community life and programs at Querubines restore self-esteem and facilitate a positive reintegration back into society.
The Child Rights Monitoring Program
The Child Rights Monitoring Program carries out the vital service of documenting the different kinds of violence being committed against youth in Honduras. The team investigates and writes monthly reports focusing on the human rights situation and human rights violations of young people in Honduras, including extrajudicial executions committed against Honduran children and teenagers. In addition, the team prepares special reports on trafficked youth. These reports are published and circulated widely to national and international governments and organizations.
Through this regular dissemination of its findings, the Child Rights Monitoring Program raises awareness of crimes being committed and helps to ensure that necessary domestic and international laws are being enforced. This data has been especially useful amidst the ongoing crisis of unaccompanied migrant youth.
Returning Migrant Reintegration Program
Since January 2010, staff members from CAH have been at the forefront of the Central American migration crisis, and CAH is now a leading service provider for vulnerable migrant youth, working hard to ensure their safety, protection and human rights.
Today, in close collaboration with civil society and government partners, CAH operates a migrant program in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, a city near the border with Guatemala where Mexican authorities regularly return deported Honduran youth by bus. CAH delivers resettlement and family reintegration services for unaccompanied child migrants and internally displaced young people, and it provides residential services for those who cannot safely return home.