BRYCS Publication

Funding News

The Compassion Capital Fund (CCF) published three funding announcements in May with due dates in June. These announcements are for: Targeted Capacity Building Program, Demonstration Program, and Communities Empowering Youth Program. For more information, go to the CCF Web site at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ccf/.

The Healthy Marriage Initiative published four funding announcements in May with due dates in June and July. These announcements are for Healthy Marriage Demonstration Grants, National Healthy Marriage Resource Center, Promoting Responsible Fatherhood, and Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Marriage Research Initiative. For more information on these announcements and other current open funding from the Administration for Children and Families, go to the ACF Grant Opportunities Web site at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/grants/index.html.

Guide to Federal Resources for Youth Development, from America’s Promise, provides information on Federal Funds available to support youth programs. Each program is listed by the department that operates the program, and cross-references are made to one or more of the five core resources: caring adults; safe places; a healthy start and future; effective education; and opportunities to help others. (description taken from the America’s Promise Web site)

  Events

The 2006 Refugee and Immigrant Conference will take place September 19-20, 2006, at the Holiday Inn Chicago-Mart Plaza, Chicago, Illinois. This conference offers groups and individuals assisting refugee and immigrant children and their families a national opportunity to discuss and learn about issues affecting refugee and immigrant children and their families, schools, and healthcare, along with the challenges of cultural adjustment. The announcement with registration information can be found at http://www.thecenterweb.org/alrc/index.html.

Charting a Course - Promoting Stability in Foster Care: Why Children Move and how to Minimize Disruptions, a web seminar co- sponsored by Chapin Hall Center for Children and the National Conference of State Legislatures, will report on a major new Chapin Hall study that found that the challenges foster parents face in meeting the needs of foster children, often without adequate resources, help drive the frequent moves. Click here to register.

  Resources

Children of War: A Video for Educators, from the Center for Multicultural Human Services (CMHS), is now available for purchase from CMHS. This video is designed for use as a ‘hands-on’ instructional tool for educators, school administrators and other professionals dealing with refugee/immigrant children. The accompanying Resource Guide contains discussion questions, and suggestions as to how teachers and administrators can identify and help support traumatized refugee/immigrant children in their schools. (description taken from the CMHS Web site) The Resource Guide is also available through the BRYCS Clearinghouse.

The Integration of Refugee Children: Good Practice in Educational Settings, a website from the National Refugee Integration Forum (NRIF) in England, provides information, guidance and examples of good practice to support the integration of refugee children. (description taken from the NRIF Web site)

Children, Stress, and Natural Disasters, from the University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service, is a set of resources for teachers and other child-care or youth workers that helps prepare them for working with children who have been through a disaster. These resources include a guide for teachers and school activities for children. (description taken from the University of Illinois Extension Disaster Resources Web site)

Whatever It Takes: How Twelve Communities Are Reconnecting Out-of-School Youth, from the American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF), documents what committed educators, policymakers, and community leaders across the country are doing to reconnect out-of-school youth to the social and economic mainstream. It provides background on the high school dropout problem and describes in-depth what twelve communities are doing to reconnect dropouts to education and employment training. (description taken from the AYPF Web site)

Community-based Learning: Engaging Students for Success and Citizenship, from the Coalition for Community Schools (CCS), makes the case that community-based learning addresses the problems of boredom and disengagement. This approach brings together a collection of teaching and learning strategies, including service learning, place-based education, environment-based education, civic education, work-based learning and academically-based community service. (description taken from the CCS Web site)

Building Partnerships for Youth Program Assessment Tool, from the National 4-H Council and the University of Arizona, was created to help administrators and program personnel assess their program’s ability to address each of the 21 elements of youth development and thus make informed decisions regarding future program directions. This on-line assessment provides an immediate feedback report. (description taken from the Building Partnerships for Youth Web site)

Knowing Who You Are: Helping Youth in Care Develop their Racial and Ethnic Identity, from the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF), is a new suite of tools (streaming video and e-learning) that prepare child welfare professionals to help youth develop pride in their racial and ethnic heritage, build their multicultural competence, and prepare for racism and discrimination. (description taken from the AECF Web site)

Young Children in Immigrant Families—The Role of Philanthropy: Sharing Knowledge, Creating Services, and Building Supportive Policies, Report of a Meeting, January 18-19, 2006, from the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP), explores strategies for promoting positive outcomes for this critical population. The NCCP report on this meeting provides an overview of the key issues and findings that emerged from the meeting panels and discussions. (description taken from the NCCP Web site)

COMING SOON: 

On July 1st, BRYCS will publish a new Web site Tutorial, developed in response to a recent technical assistance request from the field. For each tutorial in this educational series, BRYCS presents a practical problem from the field and then takes you on a step-by-step search of the BRYCS Clearinghouse to find information and tools that address the problem.

On August 1st, BRYCS will feature the topic of Child Care and announce a new publication: Understanding and Responding to the Child Care System. This new curriculum and training instrument will focus on increasing understanding of the child care system through interactive learning modules, and include strategies to build capacity among refugee communities and resettlement agencies to respond to child care as a barrier to employment.