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| BRYCS EMAIL
ALERTS |
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you like to hear about new BRYCS resources and Web
site features each month, by email? Just send an email
to info at brycs.org
and tell us you would like to subscribe to the BRYCS
Bulletin email alert. |
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REFUGEE PARENT INTERVIEWS
In order to gather first-hand accounts
of parenting and resettlement challenges
and successes, BRYCS staff are conducting
a series of interviews with refugee parents.
Each interview summary will be followed
by several discussion questions, so that
refugee serving agencies can use the interviews
as a staff development tool. A new interview
will be added monthly, so check back!
Interview
with Klee Thoo, a Burmese Karen Father Interview
with Tou and Mee, Hmong Parents
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Promising Practices
for Refugee-Serving Programs
In this month’s Sidebar Series on “Promising
Practices,” BRYCS highlights two programs
that promote and foster participation by refugee
parents in the education of their children.
The Manchester,
New Hampshire Public Schools
involve refugee parents in a number of
ways. They have Family Understanding Nights, refugee
parent panels, cultural competency trainings for
teachers, soccer leagues, and more! If you need
any concrete ideas for how to engage your district’s
refugee families, be sure to read this.
World Relief
Chicago’s Pambazuka Project
offers comprehensive services for refugee
families with children of any age – from babies
to high schoolers. The Family Literacy Program teaches
parents literacy skills and provides them with support
as they learn how to be their children’s first
teachers. For families with older children, they
are provided with assistance in developing their
relationship with the school through community liaisons
and more.
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BRYCS will continue to develop our “promising
practices” series in the coming months as we
share the innovative work being accomplished by programs
serving refugee children and their families throughout
the United States. Please be sure to visit BRYCS'
Targeted Resources for Program
Managers, where you will find a link to the complete
list of Program Descriptions in the Clearinghouse.
If you have a program to share, or are aware of
any creative efforts towards enhancing services
for refugee children, please contact BRYCS with
the details. We want to recognize and profile these
efforts, so that others can learn from them. We
are also interested in hearing from you about what
tools, resources or mechanisms that you would like
to learn more about. Email
info at brycs.org or call 202-541-3232 to speak
with our Outreach and Information Coordinator.
You may also submit
your program using our Web form.
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Bridging Refugee Youth
and Children’s Services (BRYCS) is a national
technical assistance project working to broaden the scope
of information and collaboration among service providers -
in order to strengthen services to refugee youth, children
and their families. Read more about our mission and services.
Who is a refugee?
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SPRING
2007 SPOTLIGHT
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In our culture [Somali], you
send the kids to school and they are the schools’
responsibility...Sometimes when the teachers have
a problem understanding the mothers, I help them
by translating for them. The first thing the mother
will ask is, “What is she complaining for?
Isn’t that her job? Isn’t she the
one who is supposed to fix the child? Why is she
telling me?” [1]
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Many teachers and administrators across
the United States are confused and concerned when they
host parent-teacher conferences, "Open Houses,"
or other events for parents and find that few of their
refugee parents attend. Sometimes, repeated failed efforts
result in teachers and administrators concluding that
the refugee parents in their district "just don't
care." [2]
Yet, that is rarely the case. Research consistently
shows that refugee parents do care about their children's
education a great deal. Yet, as the above quote demonstrates,
there are often a number of cultural issues at play. To
learn more about this topic, read the full Spring 2007
Spotlight on Involving
Refugee Parents in their Children's Education. In
addition, see the list of highlighted
resources, which provides the most up-to-date and
useful resources on this topic available for free download.
To see any of the past Spotlights
or lists of highlighted resources by topic, please visit
Resources by Topic.
1
- Nderu, E.N. (2005). “Parental Involvement
in Education: A Qualitative Study of Somali Immigrants
in the Twin Cities Area.” Proquest Information
and Learning Company. UMI Microform 3160164.
2 - Lightfoot, D. (2004).
“’Some Parents Just Don’t Care:
Decoding the Meanings of Parental Involvement in
Urban Schools.” Urban Education, 39 (1), 91-107.
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WHAT'S
NEW - MARCH 2007 |
ANNOUNCEMENT
New refugee populations are on their way! See the UNHCR
Quick Fact Sheets on Burmese
Resettlement from Thailand and Burundian
Resettlement from Tanzania. In addition, the Center
for Applied Linguistics’ Cultural
Orientation Resource Center has produced a “Refugee
Backgrounder” on the Banyamulenge
Tutsi from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
EVENTS
The Children’s
Theatre Company of Minneapolis has produced a play called
The
Lost Boys of Sudan, which will be March 27-April 22.
The play tells the story of three boys who flee war in their
country, make their way to a refugee camp, and eventually
to Fargo, North Dakota.
The Children
Youth and Families At Risk (CYFAR) Conference will be
held in Chicago on May 1-4. The workshops
include topics such as cultural competency for youth development
practitioners, immigrants in rural Georgia, and the role
of ethnicity in family values and parenting.
The National
Child Care Association Annual Leadership Conference 2007
will be held in Las Vegas on March 23-March 25. Join administrators,
policy makers, and child care professionals for over 60
hours of educational sessions designed to enhance professional
skills and address the challenges facing early child care
and education organizations. (Description summarized from
the Web site.)
The Ethiopian
Community Development Council’s thirteenth national
conference on African refugees and immigrants will be held
in Arlington, Virginia on May 21-23. To share ideas you
may have for the conference or for additional information,
please contact Saba Berhane at 703-685-0510, Ext. 232. (Description
taken from the Web site.)
FUNDING
The Rosenberg
Fund for Children funds activities that support the
educational and emotional needs of children of targeted
progressive activists, and youth who are targeted activists
themselves. “Targeted" is defined as someone
who, as a result of their activism, has lost a job, suffered
physical or mental injury or disability, been harassed or
discriminated against, been imprisoned, or died. The spring
deadline is March 21. Visit the
Web site for complete information or call (413) 529-0063.
People's
Education has announced a Matching Grant Program. Programs
eligible for grants must be focused instruction programs
that provide extra learning help in key areas, such as content-area
reading, critical reading, vocabulary and math. All K-12
public and private schools are eligible to apply. The deadline
for applications is March 31.
The Abelard
Foundation, a part of the Common
Counsel Foundation, is providing funding to programs
that serve people who are disadvantaged or underserved.
The Foundation shares a special interest in organizations
that are committed to grassroots community organizing, policy
reform, and positive social change. The deadline for Western
States is June 15. Eastern States have no deadline.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is accepting grant
proposals for promising, original projects that significantly
improve the health of vulnerable populations. Projects must
be nominated by a local grantmaker interested in participating
as one of the funding partners. Visit the Web site for additional
information. The deadline is July 10.
RESOURCES
Integration
Community
Profiles of Young Children of Immigrants, from
the National
Center of Immigrant Integration Policy, are fact sheets
that use 2000 Census data to track the population of young
children of immigrants and various traits about them and
their parents in specific communities in America.
Securing
the Future: US Immigrant Integration Policy, A Reader,
from the National
Center of Immigrant Integration Policy, reviews evidence
of immigrants’ integration by examining the progress
of the second generation, as well as trends in education,
health, the workforce, and citizenship. (Description summarized
from the Web site).
Immigrants
Assimilate as Communities, Not Just as Individuals,
from the Institute
for the Study of Labor, argues that the longer the immigrant
community has been established the better adjusted it is
to the host society and the more the host society comes
to accept that ethnic group. Thus, economic outcomes for
immigrants should depend not just on their own characteristics,
but also on the legacy of past immigration from the same
country. (Description quoted from the author’s abstract.)
Child Welfare
A
Home-Based Intervention for Immigrant and Refugee Trauma
Survivors: Paraprofessionals Working With High-Risk Mothers
and Infants describes how the
Visiting Moms Program in Chelsea, MA, has taken the paraprofessional
model one step further to respond to the needs of refugee
and immigrant new mothers, by employing paraprofessional
home visitors who are also immigrants or refugees themselves.
(Description summarized from the abstract.)
Recruiting
Hispanic Foster Parents: Issues of Culture, Language, and
Social Policy from Alliance
for Children and Families discusses the large number
of Hispanic children entering foster care and the lack of
licensed families who share their language and cultural
identity. The author addresses issues of culture, language,
and social policy which must be considered when recruiting
Hispanic foster parents. (Summarized from the author’s
abstract.)
Playgroups
as Protective Environments for Refugee Children at Risk
of Trauma discusses the possible long-term effects
of trauma and investigates whether or not a supported playgroup
used by refugee families could be considered a protective
environment. While families reported difficulties associated
with resettlement, they experienced ongoing emotional support
within the playgroup and developed new social networks which
resulted in reduced levels of stress and anxiety. (Description
summarized from the author’s abstract.)
Traumatic
Stress/Child Welfare. This issue of Focal Point
focuses on child traumatic stress, particularly as experienced
by children involved in the child welfare system. The causes
and effects of traumatic stress are discussed, as are evidence-based
treatments and prevention strategies.
Children
Left Behind: How Metropolitan Areas Are Failing America's
Children provides data to show the many disparities
that black and Hispanic children are facing, compared to
white and Asian children. The article discusses conditions
that contribute to inequality in metropolitan areas as well
as possible remedies.
Child Care
Family,
Friend and Neighbor Child Care Providers in Recent Immigrant
and Refugee Communities, describes child care practices,
access to child care resources, and child care resource
needs in recent immigrant and refugee communities in Minnesota.
Starting
Off Right: Promoting Child Development from Birth in State
Early Care and Education Initiatives, from the
Center for Law and Social Policy, provides examples of specific
state policies that promote child development from birth
to age 3. The article provides recommendations for state
funding and governance structures to provide attention and
resources for all children aged birth to age 5.
Out of School Time
Recruiting
Mentors in Out-of-School Time Programs: What's Involved?
This article describes the difficulties some service providers
face in recruiting mentors and what steps can be taken to
recruit mentors.
After-School
Programs that Promote Social Skills Better for Youth, Report
Finds, from the Collaborative for Academic, Social,
and Emotional Learning in Chicago, shows that youth who
participate in after-school programs using evidence-based
approaches to enhance personal and social skills show significant
improvement compared to their peers. See here for the full
report.
Education
Refugee
Children and Youth Backgrounders, by the International
Rescue Committee, is for teachers who have refugee students
in their classes. The packet provides teachers with an introduction
to refugees in the United States, background information
on students’ home countries, tips for engaging refugee
youth and parents, and web resources concerning education,
language, and culture.
See the Boise
School District's English Language Learner Program for
a number of useful resources including their Parent
Handbook in nine languages, “Translator
Strips,” their Educational
Learning Plan for LEP students, and numerous
forms such as the Home Language Survey in multiple languages.
Connecting
Families and Schools: An Assessment Tool for Educators Working
with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students
is a tool that was developed by The Countywide Working Group
for Latino Student Success in Oregon that emphasizes the
importance of family involvement for students for whom English
is not their home language. The tool can be used as an evaluative
measure, a guide to improving family involvement, and a
resource to promote reflection and discussion among staff.
(Description summarized from the document.)
Parent
Involvement at Selected Ready Schools describes
the findings of the Council of Chief State School Officers
when they profiled four schools and a school district about
their efforts to involve families in early childhood education.
This report focuses on the ways these sites involved diverse
families, both inside and outside of the school building,
and bridged cultural and linguistic differences.
The 2007 edition of “Appreciating
America’s Heritage” Teacher Resource Guide
from the American
Immigration Law Foundation provides lesson plans to
introduce students, especially those who may not be exposed
directly to ethnically diverse populations, to the topic
of immigration.
Building
Culturally Responsive Relationships with Diverse Families
of Children with Disabilities, a video from the
National Association for Multicultural Education, is
for special educators working with children from diverse
backgrounds. To order it, see the Web site. See here for
the order
form.
Hispanic
Education in the United States is a statistical
brief that explores the participation level of Hispanics
in education, as well as displaying the disparity between
white persons and Hispanics in schools.
Families
Building
Bridges between Healthy Marriage, Responsible Fatherhood,
and Domestic Violence Programs details the findings
of a conference of the same name, in which these three fields
worked to understand what the other does in the hope of
others outside these fields becoming more aware of pertinent
issues. See Box 9, which addresses cultural issues.
Program Development
Building
a Common Outcome Framework to Measure Nonprofit Performance,
from the Urban Institute, focuses on performance measurements
for nonprofit organizations. This report suggests indicators
for 14 program areas and provides guidance to nonprofits
on what to measure and how to do it. (Summarized from the
author’s abstract.)
Youth Development
The National Teen Dating Violence Prevention Initiative has put together a
Dating
Violence Toolkit. This toolkit includes a poster,
instructions, warning signs, prevention recommendations,
a teacher’s guide, and a DVD.
The Report
on Somali Youth Issues by the City of Minneapolis Department
of Civil Rights addresses the increase in Somali Youth crime
in the City of Minneapolis in 2005. The report identifies
difficulties in the lives of the Somali Youth that may contribute
to the crime increase, as well as possible remedies to the
problems.
The Transnational
Study on Youth Gangs addresses the problem of youth
gangs in Washington, D.C. and several Central American countries.
The study identifies where the gangs are most a problem,
what characterizes these gangs, and how they should be addressed
and dealt with.
Structural
Racism and Youth Development: Issues, Challenges, and Implications
identifies the issues of inequality between youth of color
and their white counterparts. The article looks at structural
racism and how it facilitates the maintenance of racial
inequities in the United States today. (Description summarized
from the web site.)
Are
They Really Ready to Work? is a report on the findings
of a study done to examine how employers define workforce
readiness for entrants into the United State workforce.
In the section, “Learning through Real-World Examples,”
a program is highlighted that has helped youth who are failing
in school turn around and become prepared for the workplace.
Ready
for College and Ready for Work: Same or Different?
examines what is necessary for youth to be ready to enter
either college or the workforce and states that high school
educators need to be preparing their students for both college
and the workforce. The aim of the document is to advocate
that high school education needs to be redesigned in order
for all students to be prepared for whatever their future
holds.
COMING SOON:
New publications this year by BRYCS will
include:
- An illustrated educational booklet for refugees about
parenting and U.S. child protection laws available for
free download, on a CD, and in hard copy.
- Monthly articles with highlights from interviews with
refugee parents on their traditional parenting practices,
their challenges parenting in the U.S., and helpful suggestions.
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