BRYCS What’s New Updates for October 2021

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Tens of thousands of Afghans have been forced to flee for safety. Now, it’s on the US to do its part to help #WelcomeHome these families from #Afghanistan who are building new lives in communities across America. See how you can support families seeking safety and welcome new neighbors as they get settled at https://welcome.us.
• 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

• 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.
• Psychological First Aid (PFA) to Support Clients Affected by the Crisis in Afghanistan, a Switchboard webinar, will take place October 4, 2-3:30PM ET. Participants will review the basic principles of PFA, with special consideration given to supporting clients affected by the crisis in Afghanistan. Adaptations to meet the needs of blended or remote service delivery will also be discussed.
• Afghan Culture and Health Screening Considerations, a Center of Excellence in Newcomer Health webinar, will take place October 4, 2021 at 1:30-3PM ET. Participants will understand the potential entry pathways and immigration standings of Afghan arrivals, including their impact on medical care/access, list three required or recommended components of medical screening/care for Afghan arrivals, discuss potential health concerns for Afghan arrivals at the population level, and identify at least three cultural considerations for a patient-provider interaction with Afghan arrivals.
• Who are Refugees and How Do They Arrive in the United States? Understanding the Refugee Resettlement Process, a Switchboard webinar, will take place October 7, 2-3:00PM ET.  Speakers will provide an overview of the refugee resettlement process, from flight and displacement to arrival and integration in the United States. It will cover services that are typically provided, the organizations involved at different stages of the process, and information about the anticipated increase in refugee arrivals in 2022. Participants will also have the opportunity to ask questions of a panel of former refugees about their resettlement experiences. This webinar will premiere a new animated training video from Switchboard: Who are Refugees and How Do They Arrive in the United States?
• Learning and Serving Together! Binational Partnership for Immigrant & Refugee Services, a Catholic Charities USA webinar, will take place October 7 at 2PM EST. This webinar will include an overview of the origin and development of interinstitutional collaboration, presentation of the service/accompaniment, student and institutional learning, and research components of the collaboration, which include: student internships, research projects, grant collaborations, and professional development, and a discussion of how webinar participants can join in such collaborations to expand the Catholic calling to “walk with the poor, the outcasts of the world, those whose dignity has been violated, in a mission of reconciliation and justice.
• 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.
• Unaccompanied Children in 2021: Serving Immigrant and Refugee Youth, a Catholic Charities USA webinar, will take place October 14 at 2PM EST. This webinar will provide details on who unaccompanied children are and where they come from, factors driving their migration, and the challenges they face once they arrive in the US. Participants will learn more about the recent surge in migrant children crossing the US-Mexico border and the implications this has had on their care prior to reunifying with a sponsor or being placed in long-term foster care.
• Growing Language Skills: Spreading and Adapting 2Gen Working Practices, an Aspen Institute webinar, will take place October 14 at 2PM ET. Hear new approaches for establishing clear and more effective communications and language services to immigrant families. Organizations will share their experience translating materials, increasing organizational capacity and tailoring language programs for the needs of families. Speakers include CAP Tulsa (Oklahoma) and Charlotte Bilingual Preschool (North Carolina).
• 2021 Academic and Policy Symposium, hosted by The Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS), will take place virtually October 26-27, 2021. Migration scholars, advocates, and policymakers will explore the theme, “Innovation in International Migration Research and Policy”.
• Trauma Certificate Course 2021, hosted by Nationalities Service Center, will take place November 4, 2021 to April 21, 2022 on Thursdays from 2-3:30 PM (via Zoom). This 6-month, 30-hour course is designed for case managers, lawyers, interpreters, interns and other direct and indirect service providers. The material will focus on working with refugee and immigrant populations but can be generalized to other client communities. This is a practical and strategy-focused training that will include lecture, readings, discussion, reflection interactive activities, guest speakers.
• Cultural Competence Secrets to Success with Immigrant Families: Spreading and Adapting 2Gen Working Practices, an Aspen Institute webinar, will take place November 10 at 2PM ET. Learn how providers are building cultural competency to better connect with and understand the worldview of the immigrant and refugee families they serve. The conversation will explore issues of gender norms, trauma-informed care, immigrant and refugee mental health, and financial literacy. Speakers include the Arab American Family Support Center (New York, New York) and the Family Partnership (Minnesota).

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FUNDING

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RESOURCES

For Refugee/Immigrant Children & Youth

• Golden Door Scholars (GDS), a nonprofit that invests in  undocumented students to help them achieve their dreams through college scholarships and career readiness, is currently accepting applications for their four-year college scholarship program from now through October 10th. In addition to a scholarship, GDS scholars also have access to mentors, internship, job search support, and professional growth opportunities.
• Sea Prayer is a short, powerful, illustrated book written in response to the current refugee crisis. It is composed in the form of a letter, from a father to his son, on the eve of their journey. Watching over his sleeping son, the father reflects on the dangerous sea-crossing that lies before them. It is also a vivid portrait of their life in Homs, Syria, before the war, and of that city’s swift transformation from a home into a deadly war zone. (Description from source)

General Cultural Competency & Migration & Resettlement Awareness

• Different Statuses, Different Benefits: Determining Federal Assistance for Afghan Evacuees, from the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), includes a table on Immigration and Public Benefits for Afghan Arrivals organized by legal status.
• What Federal Benefits and Services are Available to Afghan Parolees?, a Switchboard blog, summarizes who qualifies for what benefits and lists some of the programs and services in which Afghan parolees may currently participate.

Cultural Orientation/Integration

• Settle In Facebook, an initiative launched by the Cultural Orientation Resource Exchange (CORE), is designed to directly engage newly arrived Afghans resettling in the United States. This platform serves as another touchpoint to disseminate vital, correct information in an interactive format tied to early resettlement services, employment, housing, and education. Learn more about Settle In Facebook and how you can use it to assist you in delivery of Cultural Orientation on CORE’s website. Service providers may also be interested in How to Use Settle In Facebook with Afghan Arrivals.
• A Round-Up of Resources for Serving Afghan Evacuees, a Switchboard blog, is aimed at service providers supporting clients and recent arrivals from Afghanistan. It shares federal policies, cultural orientation resources, and economic empowerment and digital inclusion resources. It includes a focus on resources available in Dari and Pashto.
• Building Cultural Orientation Programs for Increased Arrivals, an archived webinar from the Cultural Orientation Resource Exchange (CORE), aims to help new and experienced Cultural Orientation providers, along with program supervisors, think through how to ensure their Cultural Orientation program is set up for success. During the webinar, participants conducted an evaluation of their current Cultural Orientation program capacity, learned best practices from panelists with robust Cultural Orientation programs, and created a localized plan to make sure their team is equipped to deliver effective sessions to more refugees.

Child Welfare/Family Strengthening

• Domestic Violence Survivors Toolkit, from the Peaceful Families Project, looks at Islamic teachings from the Quran and Hadith to provide a model for healthy relationships in which the objective is a tranquil environment for all family members.  The toolkit provides resources and services that may be useful for survivors in this journey.

Education

• Learning Packets, from ICMEE at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, were created by teachers, for teachers and include over 10k pages of K-12 content for teachers, schools, and parents to use with English Learner students.
• Supporting Teachers and their English Learners during Online Learning, a blog from NCER, touches upon the inequities in access to online schooling and the importance of a partnership between teachers, families, and other caregivers.

Health/Mental Health

• Best Practices for Medical Screening of Unaccompanied Refugee Minors, an archived webinar from the Center of Excellence in Newcomer Health, touches on medical screening for youth coming from the UC program.
• Understanding the Mental Health Needs of Unaccompanied Children in the United States, a video from the National Children Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), provides a brief overview of the mental health needs of unaccompanied children who have experienced significant trauma in their home countries and along their journey to the United States.
• COVID-19 resources for Afghan new arrivals, from the National Resource Center for Refugees, Immigrants, and Migrants (NRC-RIM), now includes a welcome video in Dari and Pashto describing the current COVID-19 situation in the United States.

Program Development

• Introduction to Gender-Sensitive Project Design, a self-paced course from Switchboard, is designed to provide an in-depth introduction to gender-sensitive project design. It provides an overview of what gender-sensitive programs are; reviews how to develop gender-sensitive theories of change; describes how to conduct a basic gender analysis; and introduces key concepts in gender-sensitive M&E planning, including how to develop a logical framework (logframe). This course will take approximately three hours to complete, and you are able to pause an resume the course. After finishing this self-paced course, you will earn a certificate of completion. (Description from source)
• Supporting Clients and Staff Affected by the Crisis in Afghanistan, a Switchboard blog, provides tips that may be helpful to program staff and leaders as they seek to care for clients and staff affected by the situation in Afghanistan. (Description from source)