What's New

February 2012

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

• BRYCS joint Webinar with the Refugee Health Technical Assistance Center (RHTAC), "Strong Roots and Bright Futures: Promoting Successful Adjustment for Refugee Youth" , will take place Wednesday, February 8, 2012 from 12:30-1:30 PM EST. Lyn Morland, MSW, MA, BRYCS and Heidi Ellis, PhD, Center for Refugee Trauma and Resilience, Boston Children's Hospital & Dina Birman, PhD, BRYCS Consultant and Associate Professor from the Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago will present on the risk and protective processes most critical to refugee youth adjustment and the elements of programming most effective in promoting the resilience and successes of refugee youth. Q&A time and practical resources will be provided. Register now>
• RESPECT (Refugee Education Sponsorship Program - Enhancing Communities Together) is hosting an international poster contest! Students from all parts of the world will be using their creativity and artistic talent to promote awareness of refugee issues among non-refugee students. This year’s theme is “Finding Peace in War." The deadline is April 1. 
• The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is pleased to release this  training video on Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.  This law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin for any programs receiving federal funding.  This video also discusses language access and includes information on interpretation and translation. 
  

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EVENTS

• The 28th National Symposium on Child Abuse will take place March 19-22. Workshop tracks are designed specifically for Administration, Child Protective Services, Interviewing, Law Enforcement, Legal, Medical, Mental Health/Treatment, Prevention, Victim Advocates, and Wellness.
• TESOL 2012 will take place on March 28-31 in Philadelphia, PA. Conference events include plenary and luminary speakers, dynamic workshops, diverse panel discussions, educational site visits, and a variety of K–12 programming.  An advanced program is now available. 
• The 15th National School Social Work Conference will be held March 28-31 in Boston.  “School Social Workers: Making a Difference in Schools, Homes & Communities” will include workshops on positive behavioral interventions, bullying, working with particular populations, mental health, parent engagement, and more!  
• The 18th National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect will take place April 16-20 in Washington, DC. The event features child welfare leaders and experts including practitioners, policy makers, cutting-edge researchers, and advocates. Workshops will discuss practice, policy, and research and there will be opportunities for networking with colleagues dedicated to the well-being of our nation’s children and families.
  

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FUNDING

• The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) invites the submission of applications for the Preferred Communities program to support the resettlement of newly arriving refugees in communities where they have ample opportunities for early employment and sustained economic independence and, to address special populations who need intensive case management, culturally and linguistically appropriate linkages and coordination with other service providers to improve their access to services. The deadline to apply is March 1.
• The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) invites ethnic community based organizations as well as ethnic organizations that are faith-based to submit competitive grant applications for funding of the Ethnic Community Self-Help Program.  The objective of this program is to strengthen organized ethnic communities comprised and representative of refugee populations to ensure ongoing support and services to refugees within five years of resettlement. The deadline is March 13.
• The Migration Policy Institute's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy E Pluribus Unum award program provides $50,000 prizes annually to exceptionally successful immigrant integration initiatives. The program highlights and rewards outstanding efforts that help immigrants and their children join the mainstream of U.S. society or that bring immigrants and the native born together to build stronger, more cohesive communities. The deadline to apply is March 15.
  
• The Rite Aid Foundation provides grants to programs that focus on health and wellness in the communities. The deadline to apply is April 1.
  

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RESOURCES

For Refugee and Immigrant Youth

• Bamboo People is a coming-of-age novel taking place against the political and military backdrop of modern-day Burma. Narrated by two fifteen-year-old boys on opposing sides of the conflict between the Burmese government and the Karenni, one of the many ethnic minorities in Burma, Bamboo People explores the nature of violence, power, and prejudice. The site includes a discussion guide. (Description from source)
• Welcoming Babies shows the diverse ways we welcome new babies around the world.
  

Cultural Orientation/Integration

• New Mainers: Portraits of Our Immigrant Neighbors is a collection of twenty-five immigrant stories. The stories look at their reasons for immigrating, their contribution to the state of Maine and their experiences in their new homes.
  
• Not in Our Town: Light in the Darkness is a one-hour documentary about a town coming together to take action after anti-immigrant violence devastates the community. The entire documentary is available for free-streaming.
  

Child Welfare/Families

• Parenting in a New Culture guides are available from the Spectrum Migrant Resource Centre (MRC) in Australia.  These guides were created for particular immigrant communities whose cultural and social values regarding parenting and families differ significantly from mainstream Australian culture and norms.  There are guides for particular immigrant communities and are also translated into multiple languages.
  
• Latino Cultural Guide: Building Capacity to Strengthen the Well-Being of Immigrant Families and Their Children: A Prevention Strategy, from the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare, provides an overview of selected items that are critical to understanding children and family environments of Latino immigrant groups. (Description from source)
  
• “Reunification Outcomes among Mexican Immigrant Families in the Child Welfare System”, from the Children and Youth Services Review examines reunification outcomes among Mexican immigrant families involved in the child welfare system, and compared characteristics of Mexican-origin and non-immigrant children involved in the child welfare system.
  

Early Childhood

• Health Information Translations offers a number of multilingual tip sheets on pregnancy and baby care including breastfeeding basics, coping with your baby’s crying, how to bathe your newborn, a child safety checklist, and more.
• Working with Latino Parents in Child Care and Other Settings, a fact sheet from North Carolina State University, offers tips for working effectively with Latino families, the least likely of any ethnic group to have their children in child care situations outside the home.
  

Education 

• Innovative Voices in Education: Engaging Diverse Communities is an important new book on family and community engagement in the schools.  Each of its chapters is written by “on the ground” educators and community leaders who share first-person accounts of how to engage students and families of diverse backgrounds.
• Helping Newcomer Students Succeed in Secondary Schools and Beyond, from the Center for Applied Linguistics, has been written for educators and policymakers to focus attention on newcomer adolescent English language learners at the middle and high school grades and to communicate promising practices for serving their educational and social needs.  The report is based on a three year national research study of secondary school newcomer programs.
• “Cultural Diversity in the Classroom and its Effects on Academic Performance: A Cross-National Perspective”, from Social Psychology, examines the relationship between the percentage of immigrant students and the reading and mathematics performances of native and immigrant students across nations.
  

Youth Development

• Children of Latino Immigrants and Out-of-School Time Programs, a new brief from Child Trends, describes risk factors that contribute to low participation rates for children of immigrants, and discusses what these programs can do to help improve outcomes.
  
• Do I Belong Here? Exploring Immigrant College Student Responses on the SERU Survey Sense of Belonging/Satisfaction Factor, from the University of Minnesota, addresses whether or not the sense of belonging/satisfaction of recent immigrant college students differs from non-immigrant college students and if those perceptions vary by immigrant generations.
  

Health/Mental Health

• Working with Immigrant Families: A Practical Guide for Counselors examines the theoretical and practice-based issues that must be considered by counseling professionals when performing family therapy with immigrant clients. It provides practitioners with insights into why immigrant families come to the United States, the processes that unfold while they do, and the steps that can be taken to help these families make the most of their experience in their new country. (Description from source)
  
• “Adapting Trauma Interventions for Refugee Families”, from SAMHSA’s Quarterly Technical Assistance Bulletin on Disaster Behavioral Health, suggests that when parenting is impaired, children's behavior suffers, increasing the risk for a variety of poor outcomes.  This article provides information about evidence-based parent training interventions that are appropriate for refugees.
  
• “Developing Preventive Mental Health Interventions for Refugee Families in Resettlement”, from the journal on Family Process, describes eight characteristics that preventive mental health interventions should address to meet the needs of refugee families, including: Feasibility, Acceptability, Culturally Tailored, Multilevel, Time Focused, Prosaicness, Effectiveness, and Adaptability. (Description from source)
  

Program Development

• Improving Survey Questions, from Cornell University, offers guidelines intended to help managers of parent education programs develop survey questions which produce reliable and valid answers from respondents.
  
• 2011 Kids Count Data Book, from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, allows online access to hundreds of child well-being indicators in areas of education, employment and income, health, poverty, and youth risk factors. This data may be helpful for reporting and applying for funding.
  
• Lend a Hand: A Guide to Volunteering for Youth, from the National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth, lists the many ways community members can volunteer to help young people throughout the year. This resource is also available in Spanish.
  

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