National Technical Assistance Network

BRYCS Technical Assistance Network

We are fortunate to have six high-level experts who have joined us as our National Technical Assistance Consultant Network. Based mainly in geographic areas of high immigration, these experts are available for consultations and trainings through BRYCS, as their schedules allow. See our list of staff and TA consultants below for more details on their areas of expertise. To request a consultation with any of our staff or consultants, please email info@brycs.org or call 1-888-572-6500. We look forward to hearing from you!

Dina Birman, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

Dina Birman has conducted research and written extensively on the acculturation and adjustment of refugees and immigrants across generations, particularly populations from the former Soviet Union, Central America, Somalia, and Vietnam. She has particularly focused on the differences in acculturation between adolescents and their parents, and the implications of these differences on family adaptation. With a background in community psychology, she explores these issues from an ecological perspective, taking into account the characteristics of the receiving communities. Based on her research on refugee students in Chicago and New Jersey, Dr. Birman has published extensively on school-based interventions for refugee students, including mental health interventions, as well as the role of parental involvement on immigrant youth adaptation at school. As a consultant, she has evaluated programs serving refugee and immigrant children funded by the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative, as well as an aspect of the International Children’s Center services in Chicago. She currently sits on the editorial board for the “American Journal of Community Psychology.” She received both her Master’s degree and Doctorate in Clinical/Community Psychology from the University of Maryland.

 

Ken Borelli, MSW, ACSW


Private Consultant
San Jose, California

Ken Borelli is a local, state and national leader in child welfare services and social work practice, and recently retired after 36 years with the Department of Family and Children's Services of Santa Clara County (SCC), California, last holding the position of Deputy Director. In addition to consulting for BRYCS, Mr. Borelli is a consultant to the Annie E. Casey Foundation on migration and child welfare issues. His many professional contributions have particularly benefited children, families and adults struggling with the challenges of child abuse, domestic violence, and immigration. He has also successfully promoted linguistically and culturally competent services, and was a leader in developing and advocating for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS). His expertise is in a broad range of child welfare issues for refugees and immigrants, including funding mechanisms for mainstream services to these groups. Ken Borelli served on the local and national “Greenbook Initiative” (co-occurrence of child abuse and domestic violence) and Child Abuse Council of SCC. He earned his MSW from Tulane University School of Social Work.

 

Ilze Earner, Ph.D.


Assistant Professor, Hunter College School of Social Work
New York, New York

Ilze Earner is a professor at the Hunter College School of Social Work, and the founder and director of the school’s Immigrants and Child Welfare Project. Since 1996 she has been working on raising awareness and addressing the special needs of immigrant, refugee families, children and youth, especially when they become involved with child welfare services. Dr. Earner is a member of the New York City Administration for Children's Services Sub-Committee on Immigration and Language Access--the group that developed the ACS Handbook on Immigration Status and Language Access; she was also responsible for developing curricula on topics that affect immigrant children and youth in child welfare that are now part of the mandatory training of caseworkers in New York City. Dr. Earner has published a number of research studies on immigrant and refugee families and was one of the guest editors of the Child Welfare League of America's Special Issue of the Journal of Child Welfare on "Immigrant, Refugees and Child Welfare" published in September 2005. Dr. Earner is currently working on a collaborative project to promote internships for social work students in immigrant-serving community based organizations. She earned her doctorate at Columbia University and an MSW at California State University. Dr. Earner is herself an immigrant, born in a refugee camp in France.

 

Rowena Fong, MSW, Ed.D.


University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work
Austin, Texas

Rowena Fong is the director of the Center for Asian-American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. As a second-generation Chinese-American, Dr. Fong specializes in child welfare, immigrant and refugee issues, Asian culture, and Chinese socialization. Dr. Fong works closely with the State Refugee Coordinator on refugee child and family issues, and worked on the development of a refugee task force for Texas. Dr. Fong is currently developing a curriculum for the child welfare task force organized in conjunction with the State Refugee Coordinator. She has conducted research and written on children’s trauma, healthy marriage initiatives for refugee families, and is the editor for the book “Culturally Competent Practice with Immigrant and Refugee Children and Families”. Her most recent work, “Intersecting Child Welfare, Substance Abuse, and Family Violence: Culturally Competent Approaches,” was published in 2006. She received her Doctor of Education from Harvard University and her Master of Social Work from the University of California at Berkeley.

 

Lisa Aronson Fontes, Ph.D.


Professor, Union Institute & University Psy.D. Program
Brattleboro, Vermont

Dr. Fontes has dedicated over 15 years to making the social service and mental health systems more responsive to culturally diverse people. Dr. Fontes has conducted research and written extensively on family violence, child abuse and sexual abuse across cultures, and counseling and development. Dr. Fontes has worked as a family, individual, and group therapist in a variety of settings including managed care, emergency services, and protective outreach services. Dr. Fontes regularly trains social workers, psychologists, attorneys, law enforcement personnel, physicians, educators, women’s crisis workers, parents, and others in cultural competence and family violence issues. She has conducted trainings in more than 35 states and several countries in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Among her many publications are the two ground-breaking books: “Child Abuse and Culture: Working with Diverse Families” and “Sexual Abuse in Nine North American Cultures: Treatment and Prevention.” She is currently on the editorial boards of the “Journal of Interpersonal Violence”, the “Journal of Emotional Abuse”, & “Trauma, Abuse and Violence.” Most recently, Dr. Fontes engaged in a three-month Fulbright residence in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and is currently assisting with the resettlement of Somali Bantu refugees in Springfield, Massachusetts. She received her Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Massachusetts and her MA in Psychology from New York University.

 

Susan Schmidt, MSW


Private Consultant
St. Paul, Minnesota

Susan Schmidt conducts research, writing, and policy analysis on the special needs of refugee children and families. She has worked with the Bridging Refugee Youth and Children's Services (BRYCS) project since its inception in 2001, and she is co-author of numerous BRYCS publications. She also worked as research coordinator for the U.S. report of the Seeking Asylum Alone project, a comparative study of children seeking asylum on their own in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, and co-authored, “Seeking Asylum Alone: Unaccompanied and Separated Children and Refugee Protection in the U.S.” Previously, she worked as the director for children’s services with Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) coordinating foster care services for unaccompanied refugee minors, family reunion services for children in the custody of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, and national technical assistance on refugee child welfare through the BRYCS project. She holds a Master of Science in Social Work degree from Columbia University and a Master of Theological Studies degree from Boston University.

 

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