Given increasing diversity, and decreasing cultural isolation due to the forces of globalization and migration, child welfare workers and newcomer service providers must collaborate more in order to improve caseworker knowledge of cross-cultural parenting practices, and to improve newcomer knowledge of U.S. parenting laws and norms. This spotlight article reviews how newcomer parents painfully convey the cultural and linguistic barriers that can be experienced when child welfare workers interact with foreign-born parents. Situations like these are frustrating for both newcomer families and for the child welfare workers involved with them, underscoring the relevance of cultural competence training for child welfare workers. Such training is a necessary bridge between the assumptions and practices of majority and minority cultures. Promising practices and highlighted resources are included.
