BRYCS What’s New Updates for November 2019

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

• On November 1, 2019, the President signed the Presidential Determination for FY2020. RCUSA has issued a statement responding to the dramatic reduction of US commitment to resettle refugees.
• New Promising Practice! Bilingual Parent Library, run by St. Louis Public Schools, provides English Language Learners and their parents with an opportunity to have access to books in their first language, to promote literacy in their first language, and encourage literary experiences at homes.

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EVENTS/CALL FOR PAPERS

• Sahiyo will host a digital storytelling workshop in Washington, DC on health and female genital cutting (FGC) November 8-11, 2019 in partnership with StoryCenter and The George Washington Milken Institute School of Public Health. Survivors living in the United States and healthcare practitioners who have provided care to women who have undergone FGC are encouraged to apply to participate in this unique opportunity.   Sahiyo will guide storytellers to make short videos that may be used as educational tools to highlight the impact of FGC on women’s health, and emphasize best practices for supporting survivors within the realm of healthcare.
• The Refugee Services Collaborative of Greater Cleveland inaugural 2019 RSC Conference, Great Lakes Conference on Refugee Resilience and Integration: Promising Practices, Emerging Trends will take place November 14 and 15, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. This conference will highlight and deepen the dialogue on critical issues in the United States refugee community and serve as a catalyst to move forward best practices, addressing, but not limited to, root causes of refugee displacement, challenges facing the integration of vulnerable refugee communities, and emerging solutions underway across the nation.
• Immigrant Futures: Regional Strategies for Northern Attraction and Retention, a webinar from Cities of Migration, will take place November 18, 2019 at 1PM EST. The webinar presents an opportunity to learn more about how the Northern Policy Institute,  Thunder Bay Multicultural Association and North Bay & District Multicultural Centre are shifting policy into practice with a dynamic vision for the prosperity and well-being of their community futures.
• Trauma Informed-Care for the Child-Teen Migrant, a webinar hosted by Catholic Charities USA, will take place November 20, 2019 at 2PM EST. Join experts in outlining trauma/mental health issues affecting immigrant children/teen and the effects that trauma causes on this vulnerable population. We will address how providers can use strengths-based approaches to build resilience and heal trauma in this population as well as explore how to utilize care coordination models to provide trauma‐informed care. Leave with tips for preventing re-traumatization in infants and toddlers, young children, school age children, and adolescents.
• Launching & Strengthening Career Pathways Programs: Models, Partnerships, and Funding Possibilities, a Switchboard webinar, will take place November 21, 2019 at 2PM EST. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in career pathways programs for refugees, asylees, and other humanitarian immigrants. This webinar will offer key insights on this developing program area and accompanies Switchboard’s new toolkit Launching and Strengthening Career Pathways Programs.
• Vicarious Trauma and Burnout Risks ― Self-Care for Providers and Volunteers, a webinar hosted by Catholic Charities USA, will take place December 19, 2019 at 2PM EST. Join experts to raise awareness about the concept of a vicarious trauma in professionals supporting migrant families. This webinar is part of the series focusing on “Trauma Informed-Care” and how to manage the stress at the workplace. We will address important concepts such as vicarious resilience and ways to practice self-care to maintain health and to prevent and deal with illness.
• Catholic Charities USA’s annual Catholic Social Ministry Gathering, will take place January 25-28, 2019 in Washington, DC. This year’s theme, “Bearing Witness: Life and Justice for All”, will bring together those working on issues impacting life and human dignity across the spectrum such as the death penalty, human trafficking, restorative justice, and issues impacting families like migration, violence, and poverty.
• Save the date!  The 2020 Annual Research Symposium on “Torture Treatment: Clinical, Community, Policy Interventions, and Outcome Evaluations” will take place March 2, 2020 at George Washington University in Washington, DC.

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FUNDING

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RESOURCES

General Cultural Competency & Migration & Resettlement Awareness

• Exodus is a documentary showing the first-person stories of refugees and migrants fleeing war, persecution and hardship — drawing on footage filmed by the families themselves as they leave their homes on dangerous journeys in search of safety and refuge in Europe.
• IOM Resettlement: The UN Migration Agency, from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), examines IOM’s core areas of work including case management, health assessment and related assistance, movement management and operations, and addressing integration pre-departure and post-arrival.

For Refugee/Immigrant Children & Youth

• Son of a Gun describes the journey of a brother and sister who are kidnapped from school and forced to become child soldiers in Liberia’s fourteen-year- long civil war. Even after they are reunited with their parents, they both know the pieces of their lives will never fit together like they used to.The book includes a section of notes and further information about Liberia. Recommend for grades 3 and up.
• Other Words for Home is about a young girl who must leave Syria to move to the United States. At first, everything in America seems too fast and too loud. The American movies that Jude has always loved haven’t quite prepared her for starting school in the US—and her new label of “Middle Eastern,” an identity she’s never known before. But this life also brings unexpected surprises—there are new friends, a whole new family, and a school musical that Jude might just try out for. Maybe America, too, is a place where Jude can be seen as she really is. Recommended for grades 3-7. (Description from source)
• The Immigrant Story Scholarship, is a stipend of $1,000 offered to students with an interest in journalism that addresses immigrant and refugee issues. As an Immigrant Story Scholar, you will gain hands-on experience in all aspects of publishing, working with experienced editors and writers to interview sources, do related research, and write human interest stories. You will be paired with a mentor who will guide you through each step of the writing process as you work toward becoming an independent member of The Immigrant Story team. You will finish with your own portfolio comprised of eight to 10 published stories. Five scholarships will be given for the calendar year 2020.

Cultural Orientation/Integration

• Tapping Potential: A Toolkit to Help Businesses Employ Refugees and Asylum-seekers, from UNHCR, This guide businesses understand why refugee-friendly employment makes good business sense and equip them with guidance, suggested actions and practical examples to get started. (Description from source)
• The CORE Resettlement Navigator website and the Settle In mobile app are now available in Burmese. So now when delivering Cultural Orientation to Burmese refugees, resettlement staff can consider incorporating these newly translated resources or draw on lessons learned during a recent virtual exchange with RSC Asia. CORE’s Settle In mobile app also now includes a Transportation chapter to use with clients.
• Lifeskills Videos, from the Refugee Development Center, are available in 7 refugee languages and cover topics such as money management, housing, healthy relationships, and college & career choices. Supplemental worksheets and handouts are also available.

Child Welfare/Families

• The Family Case Management Program: Why Case Management Can and Must be Part of the US Approach to Immigration, from the Women’s Refugee Commission, seeks to explain the lessons—both best practices and areas for improvement—that the government can learn from the limited time FCMP was in existence. (Description from source)
• “Being a Father in My New Society: A Qualitative Study of the Fathering Experiences of Men from Refugee Backgrounds Resettled in Australia”, from the Journal of Refugee Studies, identifies the main challenges faced by fathers from refugee backgrounds as they resettled in a new society with its values, beliefs and expectations towards fathering. The study’s findings suggest pathways for a more socially inclusive society that supports fathers from refugee backgrounds. (Description from source)
• Beyond Borders: How to Make the Global Compacts on Migration and Refugees Work for Uprooted Children, from the UN Children’s Fund, presents successful case studies from around the world, including the implementation of minimum protection standards for refugee children in Germany, cross border child protection systems in West Africa, and finding alternatives to the detention of migrant children in Zambia. (Description from source)
• Protect Urban Refugee Children: Innovation Challenge Report, from UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), discusses current research on the ways that city life affects the protection of refugee children and their families. (Description from source)

Early Childhood

• The Importance of Home Language, from HeadStart, Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC), is designed to provide staff and families with basic information on topics related to children learning two or more languages. They emphasize the benefits of being bilingual, the importance of maintaining home language, and the value of becoming fully bilingual and are available in multiple languages.

Education

• Infographic: Teacher Diversity, from REL Mid-Atlantic, explores how a more diverse teaching force may improve educational outcomes for minority students. (Description from source)
• Dual Language Development and Disorders: A Handbook on Bilingualism and Second Language Learning is a comprehensive, student-friendly text full of new research and the latest guidance on best practices. Readers will gain information on supporting young bilingual children and their families, both at home and in the classroom, all while meeting Head Start’s guidelines on cultural and linguistic responsiveness.
• Resources and Strategies for Identifying and Supporting English Learners with Disabilities, a resource brief from REL West, was designed for policymakers developing guidance for identifying EL students in need of special education services.
• “’Education is Key to Life’: The Importance of Education from the Perspective of Displaced Learners”, from Forced Migration Review, shares the experiences of students on the University of East London’s OLIve course – a preparatory course for university access specifically tailored to refugees and asylum seekers in the UK- accessing education as displaced learners.  (Description from source)
• You Are Welcome Here: Support for Immigrant Students in Dearborn, Michigan, a video from Colorin Colorado, highlights how the Dearborn, Michigan public school district is helping its immigrant students succeed. The film is available with Arabic subtitles.
• Refugee Student Voices: Refugee Students in Higher Education, from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), looks at the Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative (DAFI), the program’s operational context, facts and figures from 2018, regional dynamics, student performance and support, professional avenues, innovation in higher education, and program funding, management and monitoring. Country factsheets are also included.

Youth

• “’Sometimes My Mind, It Has to Analyze Two Things’: Identity Development and Adaptation for Refugee and Newcomer Adolescents”, from Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, provides data from a qualitative study of 18 young adults who arrived as newcomers in the United States before the age of 16. Participants responded to a semistructured, biographical interview exploring the policies, programs, people, and practices that impacted their development and cultural adaptation. (Description from source)

Health/Mental Health

• Multilingual Health Care Videos, from the Morrison Institute, help explain important health related cultural orientation topics such as applying for health insurance, visiting primary care doctors, specialist care, the emergency room, urgent care, and pharmacy, as well as emotional wellness, and scheduling transportation to appointments.
• Lasting Trauma of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, from the Sexual Vioence Research Initiative (SVRI), concerns FGM in the Kisii region in Kenya.
• “Impacts of Social Integration and Loneliness on Mental Health of Humanitarian Migrants in Australia: Evidence from a Longitudinal Study”, from the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, aims to examine the impacts of social integration and loneliness on the mental health of humanitarian migrants in Australia over time. (Description from source)
• Determinants of Health and Well-being for Children of Immigrants, from the Foundation for Child Development, provides a framework for understanding how current social, economic, and sociopolitical conditions in the U.S. adversely impact the health and well-being of children of immigrant families. Policymakers, communities and institutions can act to improve social determinants and curb a pending health crisis. (Description from source)
• Partners in Trauma Healing (PATH) Bibliography, from the Center for Victims of Torture (CVT), is a resource for current literature on the topic of the mental health status of and treatments for torture survivors, war trauma survivors, refugees, and asylum seekers. This also includes research in the areas of social work that relate directly to the psychological well-being of these populations.

Anti-Trafficking

• Abused, Blamed, and Refused: Protection Denied to Women and Children Trafficked Over the U.S. Southern Border, from Refugees International, provides background on TVPA 2000 and new standards that limit protection. It includes recommendations to the Department of Homeland Security, including USCIS and ICE, the Department of Justice, Congress, and State and Local Governments.
• The Strength to Carry On: Resilience and Vulnerability to Trafficking and Other Abuses among People Travelling along Migration Routes to Europe, from International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), identifies factors of resilience and vulnerability to human trafficking and other abuses before, during, and after the migration journey. (Description from source)

Program Development

• Staff Wellbeing Review, from Amnesty International, provides a good example of how organizations should prioritize and assess the wellbeing of their staff.
• Community Resource Mapping Templates, from Switchboard, are intended to support you in your community resource mapping process. Stream the accompanying archived webinar for a more detailed introduction to how this process can strengthen refugee integration in your community.
• Community Engagement: Effective Messaging and Trauma-Informed Care Approaches, from the National Partnership for Community Training (NPCT), explores welcoming communities, offers recommendations on how to engage the private sector, and discusses how communities can implement trauma-informed care practices and ultimately contribute to refugee mental health and well-being. (Description from source)
• How States Can Benefit from Switchboard’s New Data Toolkit: A Perspective from a State Refugee Coordinator, a blog from Switchboard, accompanies a new toolkit developed by the Urban Institute as part of the Switchboard program: Data-Driven State Refugee Programs: Lessons from the field on managing, analyzing, and using data to improve refugee programs. What challenges do states face in tracking Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) program outcomes?