BRYCS What’s New Updates for July 2021

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Survey for Immigrant Families on Experiences During the Pandemic During the COVID-19 Pandemic Many of us have confronted various challenges related to health, finances, and finding social support. Researchers aim to use this study to learn from immigrant parents’/caregivers’ experiences during the pandemic to inform policies and social services to better support immigrant families. They are looking for immigrant families to participate in this confidential and voluntary study – this could include you, your friends and family, your clients, foster parents, and volunteers, etc. If you are a service provider and have the capacity, we suggest sitting alongside immigrant families as they complete the survey. If that is not possible, please share the survey and let them know that they can share it with their friends and family. If you have any questions about the study, please contact Professor Robert G. Hasson III, Ph.D., LICSW, Kerri Evans, Ph.D., or Jennifer Siegel, MSW.
• HAVE YOU / DO YOU WORK WITH THE MAYA FROM GUATEMALA OR MEXICO? Ten years ago, Bridging Refugee Youth and Children’s Services (BRYCS) and the Maya Heritage Community Project at Kennesaw State University (KSU) collaborated to create the Maya Toolkit for Medical Providers. The Toolkit creation involved dozens of key Maya participants from various language groups, without whose help the project would not have been possible. The Toolkit aims to help medical providers identify health care barriers and create resources to bridge the gap. We are now interested in finding out who has used the Toolkit, how useful it is, and how we might update and improve it. To that end, BRYCS and KSU have developed a short online survey. The survey should take no more than 10 minutes of your time. If you have worked with Maya and either used or not used the Toolkit before, please help by telling us about your experiences with the Toolkit or your initial impressions of the Toolkit.  
• Youth Mentoring, a program of Refugee Services of Texas-Austin, aims to coach and empower refugee youth, age 15-24, to reach their personal, professional, and education goals via one-on-one relationships with a community volunteer mentor.

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EVENTS

• 2021 Immigrant Student Success: Strategies and Tools for K-12 and Adult Educators, will take place July 7-8, 2021 from 11AM-2PM EDT. Immigrant and refugee students of all ages are being disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and a rise in anti-immigrant sentiment. Participants will learn to support immigrant students, combat anti-immigrant sentiment, and center the immigrant voice across the curriculum.
• Supporting Refugee Clients’ Adjustment and Wellbeing: A Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Primer, a free, online certificate course from Switchboard, provides a foundational understanding of mental health, helps participants understand the unique traumas related to forced migration and resettlement, and explores best and promising practices to mental health and psychosocial support programming. It will be most relevant for caseworkers, casework supervisors, and others whose role includes directly supporting refugee clients. This course is open to staff of all ORR-funded organizations, including state agencies, resettlement agencies and affiliates, ethnic community-based organizations, etc. Apply by July 14, 2021.
• The 2021 National Immigrant Integration Conference (NIIC) will take place October 2-8, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. NIIC is the largest conference on immigration in the U.S. and plays a central role in the powerful, diverse and broad immigrant and refugee rights and integration field.
• The Center for Migration Studies (CMS) of New York’s 2021 Annual Gala will take place on October 14, 2021 from 7-8PM ET This is a free, virtual event celebrating another successful year of promoting evidence-based public policies that protect the rights of refugees, migrants, and newcomers. Sponsorship opportunities are available.

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FUNDING

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RESOURCES

For Refugee/Immigrant Children & Youth

• Mango, Abuela, and Me, flips the usual angle on the immigrant language barrier, exploring the perspective of a child who already speaks English and wants to reach out to someone who doesn’t. Mia wants to talk to her recently immigrated abuela (Spanish for grandmother), but her abuela is still learning English. (Description from source)
• Errol’s Garden is an inclusive tale about how one boy’s garden unites a diverse community.  Available in over two dozen languages including Burmese and Swahili.

General Cultural Competency & Migration & Resettlement Awareness

• A Day in the Life of Refugees, a documentary from Voice of America (VOA), examines the impact of forced displacement on individuals and families, on those in their destination countries, and governments and others who assist or thwart them in their efforts.
• ICMC Videos, from the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC), are a series of seven animated videos showcasing the major areas on which ICMC’s work focuses and provides concrete examples of how ICMC and its partners’ work supports forced migrants and refugees.

Cultural Orientation/Integration

• Hot Weather multilingual fact sheets from a variety of sources may be particularly helpful for those dealing with summer heat waves which are expected to become more common.
  • https://www.healthvermont.gov/news-information-resources/translated-information/language
  • https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/environment/climate/extremeheat.html
  • https://www.healthtranslations.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcht.nsf/PresentDetail?Open&s=Survive_the_heat:_brochure
  • https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/types-of-emergencies/heat-wave-safety.html select the “treat heat related illness” drop down and then scroll down
• Refugees and Asylees Have the Right to Work, an archived webinar from Switchboard TA, helps address challenges in navigating client employment authorization, including Social Security Card delays. The webinar covered documents clients can use to prove work authorization, strategies for educating clients and employers on employment documents and rights, and ways to identify and respond to  employment discrimination. Two accompanying blog posts offering tips and guidance and relevant resources produced by the U.S. Department of Justice Immigrant and Employee Rights Section are also available.
• Activities for Employment and Money Management are now available through the Cultural Orientation Resource Center’s (CORE) Activity Bank. You can use the activities and other information to create Cultural Orientation sessions that meet the language and literacy needs of your participants while also applying adult-learning principles, student-centered learning, and integrating digital technology. The Activity Bank also includes the following topics: Health, COVID-19, Role of the Resettlement Agency, and U.S. Laws.

Child Welfare/Family Strengthening

• A Vision Forward: Policies Needed to Protect the Best Interests of ‘Category 4’ Unaccompanied Immigrant Children, a report from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Migration and Refugee Services (USCCB/MRS), explores the current system for protecting unaccompanied children whom the government has determined do not have viable sponsors. The report highlights the flaws in the system of care for unaccompanied children, particularly for Category 4 youth, and ways in which the federal custody system for unaccompanied children without sponsors departs from foundational child welfare principles underlying the U.S. child welfare system. This report’s recommendations urge policy makers to better protect the best interests of Category 4 children in U.S. government care. While ORR released updated guidance concerning expanded eligibility for Category 4 youth as this report was being published, significant and permanent changes are still needed. (Description from source)
• Disparities Facing U.S. Children in Immigrant Families: New Data and Ideas for Indicators to Promote Equity, a Migration Policy Institute (MPI) webcast, explores new findings from an analysis conducted by MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, which compares key sociodemographic characteristics of immigrant and U.S.-born parents of young and school-age children and underscores their two-generational implications. Speakers examine disparities evident in the analysis and discuss potential ways to incorporate equity-sensitive measures associated with them in the policy and program frameworks of key systems, with an eye to achieving more responsive and effective service designs and improving equity and access more generally for families facing multiple disparities. (Description from source)
• Pushed into Harm’s Way: Forced Returns of Unaccompanied Migrant Children to Danger by the USA and Mexico, from Amnesty International, finds that the U.S. and Mexican governments are forcibly returning tens of thousands of unaccompanied children to the countries they just fled in search of safety, without adequate screenings or protection from the harm they may face upon return. (Description from source)
• Strengthening Services for Unaccompanied Children in U.S. Communities, a report from Migration Policy Institute (MPI), finds that while federal follow-up services for unaccompanied minors have been historically limited, community providers have played a crucial role identifying flexible and innovative solutions. The report outlines key recommendations for the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), state and local governments, and community providers to strengthen federal and community post-release services, particularly at a time when the federal government is seeking to expedite the release of children from custody. (Description from source)

Early Childhood

• A First Step Towards Equity for Dual Language Learners in Early Childhood Systems: Identifying Their Language Needs and Characteristics, a webinar from Migration Policy Institute (MPI), discusses a  newly released framework describing the most critical elements that should be included in standardized, comprehensive DLL identification and tracking processes for early childhood systems, based on program and policy needs. Presenters highlight promising approaches from across the U.S and provide an analysis of newly available state and national DLL data. (Description from source)

Education

• The Correlates of Academic Performance for English Language Learners in a New England District, from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), examines student and program characteristics related to English proficiency and content area achievement for EL students in one urban district in New England. (Description from source)
• “Connected Learning: A Refugee Assessment”, from Forced Migration Review, examines how connected learning offers the opportunity to expand access to higher education for refugees, benefiting both individuals and communities. (Description from source)
• Supporting Undocumented Families in Our Schools, a recorded SXSW conference session from ImmSchools, helps educators deepen their understanding of policies, opportunities and experiences of K-12 undocumented students and students in mixed-status families.
• Youth Tech Mentors Bridge Schools and Families – Creative Community Responses to COVID-19, an Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) webinar, features teens and college students who have been helping families and their children navigate technology for school. They will share their ideas for how schools and communities can engage youth while also providing much-needed tech support in their family engagement work this year. (Description from source)
• “Toward More Consistency in Migrant Education”, from Leadership and Policy in Schools, introduces a conceptual framework with key dimensions and strategies for guiding culturally responsive and socially just school leadership praxis. (Description from source)

Health/Mental Health

• “Delivering Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Interventions to Women and Children in Conflict Settings: A Systematic Review”, from BMJ Global Health, aimed to synthesise existing information on the delivery, coverage and effectiveness of MHPSS for conflict-affected women and children in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). (Description from source)
• COVID-19 Vaccine Informational Videos for Refugee Communities, from Church World Service (CWS), aim to ensure refugee and immigrant communities have access to clear and correct information about the COVID vaccines. The videos are available in multiple refugee languaages with more to come.
• Multilingual informational materials are available from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on a variety of early childhood and COVID-19 topics.
  • Pregnant? Take These Steps to Protect You and Your Baby from COVID-19 
  • Caring for Your Baby if You have COVID-19
  • Keep Your Baby Healthy and Safe 
  • How to Safely Breastfeed if you have COVID-19
• Practical Approaches for Discussing COVID-19 Vaccines with Clients, a webinar from the International Rescue Committee (IRC), shares tips on how to build clients’ trust and strengthen the ability to answer clients’ commonly asked questions about the COVID-19 vaccine to reinforce their safety, dignity, and agency.
• Acknowledging World Refugee Day 2021, from the National Resource Center for Refugees, Immigrants, and Migrants (NRC-RIM) and International Rescue Committee (IRC), celebrates the many contributions and the important role of refugee, immigrant and migrant communities in COVID-19 response.
• Toxic Stress and Well-Being Among Students Affected by Forced Migration, a free, self-paced e-course from the International Rescue Committee (IRC), presents common experiences associated with forced migration, how toxic stress affects children and youth, and key ways that effects of toxic stress can be mitigated within Healing Learning Spaces, including classrooms, schools, and out-of-school time program environments.

Anti-Trafficking

• 10 Red Flags That Your Patient Could Be A Victim of Human Trafficking, an infographic from the American Hospital Association (AHA) and Red Flags of Human Trafficking, from the Hope Risen Foundation, identifies concerns of the labor trafficking of foreign born individuals.
• Human Trafficking in America’s Schools, a recently updated guide from the U.S. Department of Education, aims to provide awareness of the current prevalence of child trafficking and the forms it takes; information on risk factors and indicators of child trafficking; details about three prevention tiers and the implications for schools’ role in addressing child trafficking; information on how professional development of school staff and prevention education for students and families can reduce the likelihood of trafficking; and details on how policies, protocols, and partnerships with other community sectors can help prevent trafficking.

Program Development

• “The Prevalence of Burnout and Secondary Traumatic Stress in Professionals and Volunteers Working with Forcibly Displaced People: A Systematic Review and Two Meta‐Analyses”, from the Journal of Traumatic Stress, highlights the high prevalence of high-level burnout and moderate-to-severe STS reported by individuals working with FDP. The results have implications for future research, employment support for individuals working with FDP, and measure selection for assessing STS. (Description from source)