TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

BRYCS provides a range of Technical Assistance activities to support those serving refugee and immigrant children, youth, and their families. We provide one-on-one consultations, training and conference presentations, and access to the only Web site and Clearinghouse focused specifically on migration and child welfare. BRYCS is staffed by experienced social workers and researchers ready to assist you.

Are you with a…

• Refugee resettlement agency?
• Ethnic-based community organization?
• Mainstream-service organization, such as public child welfare, juvenile justice, child care, or a school system?

Do you need help with…

• Information on refugee backgrounds, parenting practices, child welfare issues, youth crime prevention, or helping refugee children in the schools?
• A particularly challenging case?
• Locating culturally and linguistically appropriate materials?
• Integrating refugees into a local youth program (Boys/Girls Club, 4-H, etc.) or developing your own program for refugee youth?
• Helping your refugee clients find and use appropriate child care?
• Increasing collaboration between your local child welfare system, refugee-serving agencies, and other community services?
• Research and statistics on resettled refugee and asylee children, unaccompanied refugee minors, and other immigrant children?
• Getting in touch with others who have the same questions as you?

If so, BRYCS can help you!

• Request a one-on-one consultation in one of two ways:
  • Send an email to info@brycs.org or
  • Call 1-888-572-6500 or 202-541-3232.
• Search our Clearinghouse, an online database with thousands of resources.
• Download our publications, developed specifically for mainstream and refugee service providers.
• BRYCS is occasionally able to provide on-site training and presentations. Please contact us to discuss your training needs.

BRYCS Staff and Technical Assistance Network

BRYCS has two full-time and one half-time staff members in our Washington, DC office who provide the majority of the research, writing, and technical assistance for BRYCS. In addition, we are fortunate to have eight 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!

BRYCS Staff in Washington, DC

Lyn Morland, MSW, MA
Senior Program Officer and Director

Lyn Morland's career in cross-cultural social work spans 25 years. After developing health and social service programs in the Philippines, she worked in refugee resettlement and child welfare, including the Unaccompanied Refugee Minor program, for Associated Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of Washington. She soon became Director of Health Services for the Archdiocese, overseeing the primary care community clinics and a network of specialized physicians providing pro bono care to recent immigrants from Central America. Most recently, she directed a national technical assistance initiative in multicultural mental health and provided senior management, fundraising, and evaluation expertise to the Center for Multicultural Human Services in Falls Church, VA, an agency providing mental health and social services to immigrant and refugee children and their families. In addition to a BA in Psychology and a Master of Social Work, she earned a Masters degree and Doctoral candidacy in Anthropology. Doctoral awards include the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Margaret Lantis Award for her research in Honduras, a Graduate School Fellowship, and a National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) research traineeship from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. Her research has included long-term assistance to an international NSF-funded longitudinal study of ethnic identity in children, an annotated bibliography/literature review on the adjustment of refugee and immigrant youth, and the development and implementation of a participatory action research project on access to health care for immigrant families from Central America. She currently oversees and develops all aspects of the BRYCS’ Web site and technical assistance, and provides consultation nationally on services to refugee and immigrant children.

Laura Gardner, MSW, LGSW
Technical Assistance Coordinator

Laura Gardner holds a Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University where she specialized in services for refugees and immigrants. Prior to earning her degree, she worked and volunteered at five refugee serving agencies, both inside and outside the U.S., including a school-based National Child Traumatic Stress Network program for foreign-born youth at the International Institute of New Jersey. She has facilitated psychosocial and educational services for foreign-born children and families in both direct practice and program management capacities, and has advocated for systemic change related to the needs of refugees and immigrants in social service departments, community agencies, and particularly, in the public schools. Her passion for understanding the complexities of refugee resettlement took her to Ghana where she worked in the Cultural Orientation Department of the Overseas Processing Entity. In addition to an MSW, she holds a Bachelor of Science in Education where she focused on child development and children with special needs. Laura contributes research and writing and technical assistance consultations, and coordinates work on the BRYCS Web site and Clearinghouse.

Jacquelin Zubko, BA
BRYCS Program Assistant

Jaquelin Zubko recently completed her bachelor’s degree in International Studies/Human Rights and Sociology from the University of Dayton, Ohio. There she was an active member of the first cohort of Dayton Civic Scholars and volunteered extensively within her community. During her undergraduate studies, she researched and reported on a number of issues related to immigration including: Catholic Social Teachings on the Right to Migration, Forced Relocation and Internally Displaced Persons in Myanmar, The Evolution of Terror and Counterterrorism, The Life of a Child from Puerto Rico to Japan, and The Failures of Integration: A Study of Dayton, Ohio. In 2005, she studied diplomacy in China and in 2006 she participated in the Semester at Sea Program porting and studying in over 10 countries. As a second-generation immigrant, Jaquelin Zubko brings an important perspective to BRYCS’ work and a passion for working with refugees and immigrants. In 2006, she interned with the Office of International Programs at the University of Dayton and most recently she interned with the D.C. Mayor’s Office on African Affairs. Both have allowed her to work closely with immigrant and refugee communities.

BRYCS National Technical Assistance Network

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.

Olivia Faries, MSW, LCSW
Director for Children’s Services, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service Baltimore, Maryland

Olivia Faries is the director for children’s services at Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), where she oversees a national network of services for unaccompanied refugee minors, child victims of human trafficking, and undocumented and unaccompanied children in federal custody. Prior to that she served for ten years as the program manager for the Unaccompanied Refugee Minor program at Commonwealth Catholic Charities in Richmond, VA. In addition to her domestic work with refugees and immigrants in child welfare, she has participated in three deployments to refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya to conduct Best Interest Determination assessments on separated children. She has been the Chair of the Virginia chapter of the Foster Family-based Treatment Association, the chair for the Virginia Association of Licensed Child Placing Agencies, and the Chair of the Committee of Chapter Chairs on the National Board of the Foster Family-based Treatment Association. She has presented at various national conferences on topics related to child welfare, care of unaccompanied refugee minors, and victims of trafficking.

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.

Jeanne Nizigiyimana, MSW
Director of Family Programs, Catholic Charities
Phoenix, Arizona

Jeanne Nizigiyimana is an international social worker who specializes in serving women and children from developing countries. Originally a refugee herself from Burundi, she holds several undergraduate degrees and speaks five different languages. She has been living and working in the United States since the late 1990’s and began her career with Catholic Charities Community Service in Phoenix, AZ, as a case manager for refugee resettlement in 1999. After three years as Coordinator for the Strengthening Refugee Families and Marriages Program there, she became Program Supervisor for Adjustment Services. As an active member of the African community, she has served three years as a board member for the Refugee Women United for Progress. She also has been an active member of the Arizona Department of Peace and World Peace Federation since 2003. She earned her MSW from Arizona State 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.