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BRYCS What’s New Updates for April 2020

ANNOUNCEMENTS   |   EVENTS   |   FUNDING   |   RESOURCES   |   BACK TO TOP

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • Census 2020 is here! Historically, newcomers have been undercounted and this can undermine their political power and reduce access to crucial public and private resources in the communities where they live. Additionally, there may be some fear, opposition or apathy in participating. It is important that your client’s know participation is required and that US law says the information your put on the form is confidential. This means the Bureau cannot share the information with immigration officials, tax authorities, or law enforcement. Consider talking to your clients during upcoming CO sessions about the Census and what it entails.
ANNOUNCEMENTS   |   EVENTS   |   FUNDING   |   RESOURCES   |   BACK TO TOP

EVENTS/CALL FOR PAPERS

  • 2020 Summer Course on Refugees and Forced Migration, from the Centre for Refugee Studies (CRS), will take place May 4-8 May 2020 in Toronto, Canada. The course provides an interdisciplinary, interactive and experiential approach to the study of forced migration. Through attending lectures and related small group sessions, course participants develop a deepened understanding of the political, economic, social and cultural contexts of forced migration, and the major state and non-state institutions involved in refugee protection and advocacy. Participants will  have an opportunity during the course for structured networking and idea collaboration through panels and small group discussion. Apply by April 1, 2020.
  • Welcoming Interactive 2020: Inclusive Communities, Strong Economies will take place June 3-5, 2020 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Join over 400 leaders from around the world for inspiring conversations on building inclusive communities and strong economies.
  • The North American Refugee Health Conference will take place June 4-6, 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio. Join 700+ professionals working in refugee health and learn about best practices, increase cultural competency, reflect on challenges and successes in the field, and develop a network of colleagues who are making a difference in their communities. Scholarships to attend are available for previously resettled refugees working in the medical field. Continuing Education credits are available for multiple professions.
  • ECDC’s annual conference has been postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic. ECDC is considering the feasibility of holding the conference later this year once the public health situation in our country becomes more clear. Thank you all for your interest in attending the conference and for your support of ECDC.
  • International Summer School in Forced Migration, from the University of Oxford, will take place July 5-17, 2020 in Oxford, England. The course enables people working with refugees and other forced migrants to reflect critically on the forces and institutions that dominate the world of the displaced. Apply by April 30, 2020.
ANNOUNCEMENTS   |   EVENTS   |   FUNDING   |   RESOURCES   |   BACK TO TOP

FUNDING

ANNOUNCEMENTS   |   EVENTS   |   FUNDING   |   RESOURCES   |   BACK TO TOP

RESOURCES

For Refugee/Immigrant Children & Youth

  •  A Different Pond offers glimpse into a relationship between father and son—and between cultures, old and new. The story reflects an immigrant family making their way in a new country while honoring its bonds to the past. Recommended for grades 1-3. (Description from source)

  General Cultural Competency & Migration & Resettlement Awareness

  • Child Migrants: How Little We Know, produced by IOM’s Global Migration Data Analysis Centre, stresses the importance of strong data in understanding child migrants and addressing their needs, while looking at current data shortfalls on migrant children in Europe.
  • Beyond Survival: Seven Years of War on Syria’s Children, from World Vision, shares the collective stories of more than one thousand Syrian girls and boys in Southern Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. They talk about their daily lives and their hopes for the future. Their stories include war-induced violence, displacement, and missing, separated and deceased family members. They also talk about home and their eagerness to restore their lives as they once were. (Description from source)

Cultural Orientation/Integration

  • Addressing Hygiene in Cultural Orientation, an archived webinar from the Cultural Orientation Resource Exchange (CORE), focuses on personal hygiene, maintaining a clean home, and respecting public places. A supplemental fact sheet, podcast, and lesson plan are also available.
  • Embarking on the Next Journey: Innovations in Predeparture Orientation Programs for Refugees, a webinar from Migration Policy Institute (MPI), draws from the report, https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/designing-effective-predeparture-orientation-resettling-refugees Preparing for the Unknown: Designing Effective Predeparture Orientation for Resettling Refugees. The report lays out guiding principles for effective orientation programs for Member States as they decide or rethink what support they offer to refugees before arrival.
  • Better Together: Overseas and Domestic Trainers Share Their Takeaways from February Exchange, provides a summary of the key takeaways from a CORE facilitated annual exchange, bridging the divide between those serving refugees both pre-departure and post-arrival to the United States. Seventy-one overseas and domestic Cultural Orientation trainers gathered in two U.S. cities in February to share knowledge and expertise. Participants came from 32 resettlement organizations in 13 U.S. states, and six Resettlement Support Centers in 10 countries. The week included local site visits, refugee panels, and experiential learning activities.
  • Strangers in Town tells the story of how global migration unexpectedly transformed and enriched Garden City, Kansas. It brought great challenges to the community, including demands for housing, social services, education, and infrastructure. For the current students at Garden City High School, the town’s remarkable diversity is all they’ve ever known. The film gives new meaning to the city’s motto: “the world grows here,” and provides an inspiring view of human possibility in the face of change. (Description from source)
  • “Experiences of Vulnerability and Sources of Resilience among Immigrants and Refugees, from Australasian Review of African Studies, considers the nature of, and factors contributing to, experiences of vulnerability. It also explores some aspects of resilience among immigrants and refugees of black African background in South East Queensland, Australia. The findings indicate that an understanding of what influences immigrants and refugees to engage in activities to mitigate vulnerability can inform the development and implementation of targeted policies, including programs and interventions for successful settlement and integration. (Description from source)

Child Welfare/Family Strengthening

Education

  •  Schools as Refuge? The Politics and Policy of Educating Refugees in Arizona, from Educational Policy, points out that schools know little about how principals, teachers, parents, and staff at community-based organizations interpret and negotiate national immigration policy and state education policies. The article argues that policies around English language acquisition and academic support further isolate refugee students and diminish their formal learning experiences in the U.S. (Description from source)“Refugee Higher Education: Contextual Challenges and Implications for Program Design, Delivery, and Accompaniment”, from the International Journal of Educational Development, explores the perspectives of 122 students involved in a pilot program of higher education in two refugee camps and one urban setting. Students reported gratitude for the experience but uncertainty about the future, and widely different contextual challenges to pursuing education. In a forced migration context, higher education may constitute a psychosocial intervention as much as an educational program. (Description from source)

    Six Strategies to Close Math Gaps for ELLS, a whitepaper from Dreambox Learning, suggests classroom strategies that can create a dynamic shift in each learner’s confidence and improvement in math performance. (Description from source)

    “School Psychologists and the Opportunities and Challenges of Serving Dual Language and English Learners,” from Contemporary School Psychology, addresses a multiplicity of needs of English Learners and immigrants, many of which are well beyond the issue of assessment for special education.

    Understanding Which English Learners Are Counted on School Accountability Measures—and When, a brief from the Migration Policy Institute’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, delves into the variations of the EL subgroup to provide data users with a better understanding of EL accountability for decision making purposes. It also discusses how breaking data out further for certain groups of ELs, such as newcomers, students with interrupted formal education and long-term ELs, could benefit decision-making. (Description from source)

Youth

  •  “How “Godparents” are Made for “Unaccompanied Refugee Minors”: An Ethnographic View into the Training of Future Youth Mentors”, from Child and Youth Services, concentrates on one pivotal aspect regarding the “doings” of mentorship—the training of future voluntary mentors (known as “godparents”) for separated young refugees in a pilot program. (Description from source)

Health/Mental Health

  •   Are We Trauma-Informed? Tools to Measure Progress in a Program, School, or Organization, an issue brief from the Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut, Inc, defines key components of a trauma-informed approach, reviews measures, provides examples of promising surveys, and offers tips for evaluating and advancing research on approaches. Components of a Trauma-Informed Approach
  • “Preventive Mental Health Interventions for Refugee Children and Adolescents in High-income Settings”, from The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, describes interventions of note that are delivered to individuals as well as parenting and school interventions, and broader socioeconomic and cultural interventions. (Description from source)
  • “Toxic Stress and Child Refugees”, from the Journal for Specialist in Pediatric Nursing, aims to to describe the phenomenon of toxic stress and its impact on the physical and mental health of child refugees. (Description from source)
  •  “Practitioner Review: Mental Health Problems of Refugee Children and Adolescents and Their Management”, from the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, integrates recent research into the risk and protective factors for psyhopathology with service and treatment issues, to better understand the experience of organised violence, displacement and resettlement and its correlation with psychiatric disorders and psychosocial impairment.(Description from source)

Anti-Trafficking

  • Unpacking Human Trafficking, Vol. 2, from ECPAT-USA, is an update and expansion to the original survey of the laws regarding anti-trafficking training and signage in hotels across all 50 states. The report details information on state laws covering criminal and civil liability of lodging facilities for incidents of human trafficking that occur on the facility’s property. In addition, this update includes information on other U.S. jurisdictions, such as the District of Columbia and Anchorage, Alaska, that have adopted similar ordinances. New tools to help the industry protect children from exploitation have also been added to ECPAT-USA’s site, including posters that can be downloaded and displayed at hotels to raise awareness of trafficking.
  • Understanding the Experiences of Young People Forced to Move Across Borders, from the NSPCC Child Trafficking Advice Centre (CTAC), is designed for young people and the practitioners working with them. The questions in this workbook aim to help practitioners understand a young person’s journey from their home country to the UK, supporting practitioners to identify abuse, exploitation and trafficking. (Description from source)
    https://riselearningnetwork.org/resource/trafficking-along-migration-routes-to-europe-bridging-the-gap-between-migration-asylum-and-anti-trafficking/ Trafficking Along Migration Routes to Europe: Bridging the Gap Between Migration, Asylum and Anti-Trafficking, from International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), found indications that trafficking and exploitation are a major cause of concern for migrants and refugees traveling along the Western Balkans route and looks at how frontline responders identify and refer potential victims of trafficking and provide tailored protection and rehabilitation programs for identified victims.
  • A Scan of the Field: Learning About Serving Survivors of Human Trafficking, from the National Latin@ Network, aims to help service providers and other key stakeholders better understand how domestic and sexual violence prevention organizations are serving trafficking survivors. The report addresses the strengths and unique needs of these survivors, and how to assist service providers who are looking to expand their services for trafficking survivors.

Program Development

  •  Developing Logical Frameworks (Logframes), a short e-learning module from the Monitoring and Evaluation Technical Assistance (META) Project, helps learners understand what logframes are; why they are important for strong program design, monitoring and evaluation; and how to develop a logframe. (Description from source)
  • Monitoring and Evaluation Plan Template, from Switchboard, outlines the key components of a strong M&E plan using a sample refugee program as an example. It also includes links to relevant Switchboard resources to help administrators develop each component. (Description from source)