What are the different types of immigrant statuses and their challenges?

First-generation migrants face diverse challenges based on their arrival circumstances, including regularized status (higher inclusion potential) and liminal status (uncertainty about staying). Refugees often experience trauma, while newcomers face acculturative stressors. Students with interrupted education may be behind in literacy and math.

How does the migration journey impact immigrants and refugees?

The migration journey is transformative, profoundly impacting individuals and families. It involves stripping away social ties and can expose individuals to violence, extreme conditions, and exploitation, leading to mental health issues like depression and PTSD.

What are common social, emotional, and cultural challenges faced by immigrant families?

Common challenges include poverty, identification issues, educational and grade level discrepancies, and difficulties with cultural and social adaptation. Even financially stable families face these adjustments when immigrating to a new country.

What is the 'whole child' approach and how is it applied to immigrant youth?

The 'whole child' approach, using models like Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Model, views individuals within their nested systems (school, neighborhood, economy). It emphasizes immigrants' agency and resilience to thrive, recognizing their ability to adapt and change their environment.

How can educators better serve immigrant and refugee youth?

Educators need to understand cultural nuances beyond visible artifacts like food, including communication conventions and values like familialism. Speaking the same language, creating welcoming spaces, and offering wrap-around services in non-traditional settings are crucial.

What are effective practices for building staff competency in working with immigrant and refugee youth?

Practices include creating fact sheets on social conditions, offering webinars on recruitment and program design, critiquing existing frameworks from an immigrant/refugee lens, and highlighting success stories like 'Soccer for Success' and 'Teen Teaching'.

How can organizations incentivize self-work and cultural humility for staff?

This is an ongoing question for the organization. While professional development allowances for initiatives like the Intercultural Development Inventory are suggested, formal structures for rewarding this work are still being explored, with a focus on bringing in administration and higher-level support.

Building Competency in Youth Development Professionals to Work with Immigrant and Refugee - MS 23

MIT OpenCourseWare

Education3 min read59 min video

Apr 12, 2023|57 views|1

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Key Moments

TL;DR

Building competency in youth development professionals to support immigrant and refugee youth.

Key Insights

Cooperative Extension, including 4-H, is a nationwide network aiming to translate research and share local knowledge.

Youth from immigrant and refugee backgrounds have diverse needs influenced by social, cultural, and emotional conditions, including trauma and interrupted education.

Understanding the unique 'migration journey' of individuals, from their home country to their arrival, is crucial for effective support.

A 'whole child' approach, utilizing bioecological models, recognizes immigrants as active agents within multiple nested systems.

Cultural competence involves understanding visible (food, music) and invisible (communication norms, values) aspects of culture.

Promising practices include culturally responsive programming, parent/caregiver engagement, trauma-informed approaches, and providing resource access.

INTRODUCTION TO COOPERATIVE EXTENSION AND 4-H

The presentation introduces Cooperative Extension, a century-old U.S. initiative connecting university research with local communities. It operates in every county, utilizing thousands of educators and volunteers. 4-H, a subset of Extension, focuses on positive youth development with millions of members. A key challenge within Extension is that staff demographics often don't reflect the diverse youth populations served, highlighting the need for enhanced cultural competency.

UNDERSTANDING THE DIVERSE NEEDS OF IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE YOUTH

Immigrant and refugee youth present a wide spectrum of needs shaped by their experiences, including first-generation challenges like navigating new languages and systems. This includes students, those with regularized or liminal status, and refugees who may have experienced trauma. Newcomers entering the school system within three years face acculturative stressors, while those with interrupted education may lag academically.

THE CRITICAL ROLE OF THE MIGRATION JOURNEY

The presentation emphasizes understanding the 'migration journey' as key to comprehending immigrant and refugee experiences. This journey encompasses life before migration, the transit itself, and adjustment in the new country. Motivations for migration vary widely, from seeking opportunities to fleeing violence. Each journey is unique, influencing legal status, family support, and emotional well-being, necessitating a personalized approach from support professionals.

APPLYING THE WHOLE CHILD APPROACH AND BIOECOLOGICAL MODEL

The 'whole child' approach, informed by Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model, views individuals as nested within interacting systems like family, school, and community. This model highlights immigrants' agency and resilience in adapting to new environments. It stresses that resources and needs vary, from family reunification for refugees to educational and social integration for all newcomers, acknowledging their active role in thriving.

DEVELOPING CULTURAL COMPETENCE AND HUMILITY

Cultural competence extends beyond visible elements like food and music to understanding invisible cultural nuances such as communication styles and values. Educators must recognize that decisions are often made within a family context, especially in cultures emphasizing familism. Speaking the same language and having staff who represent the community's demographics significantly enhance connection and trust.

PROMISING PRACTICES AND CAPACITY BUILDING STRATEGIES

Effective practices include focusing on strengths, engaging parents and caregivers, understanding trauma's impact, and breaking down stereotypes. Culturally responsive and intentional programming is vital, as is providing access to resources and creating welcoming spaces. The Immigrant and Refugee Youth (IRY) Champions Group developed fact sheets and webinars to build staff capacity, offering general categories of social conditions and practical program design advice.

PROGRAMMING EXAMPLES AND EVALUATION FEEDBACK

Successful programs like 'Soccer for Success' use sports to engage families in health and acculturation. 'Teen Teaching' leverages youth to teach younger peers, improving English and community understanding. Expos, like the Latino Expo, connect families with resources. Feedback emphasizes cultural humility, transparent spaces, intentional program design, mental health support, and community partnerships, guiding future development efforts.

ADDRESSING BARRIERS AND FOSTERING COLLABORATION

Professionals must be aware of barriers refugees and immigrants face, such as busy work schedules, cost, and lack of transportation. Delivering services in non-traditional settings like schools can increase accessibility. The community integration model, involving collaboration among various service providers, fosters a more welcoming and supportive environment for newcomers, acknowledging that issues are interconnected and require a holistic response.

INCENTIVIZING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

The discussion touched on incentivizing self-work for cultural humility, noting challenges in rewarding such efforts. The need to involve administrators and higher-level staff in this training was highlighted. Future work may focus on developing more targeted resources, understanding unique regional needs, and adapting successful models globally, particularly in contexts like refugee camps, to empower youth with essential skills.

Mentioned in This Episode

●Software & Apps

●Tools

●Organizations

●Concepts

●People Referenced

Common Questions

Cooperative Extension is a U.S. organization over 100 years old that translates research from university campuses to local levels and vice-versa, sharing local knowledge. It operates in every county, parish, and borough, comprising thousands of educators and volunteers.

Topics

Cooperative Extension Immigrant Youth Refugee Youth Cultural Competence Cultural Humility Social-Emotional Challenges Trauma-Informed Care Land Grant Universities Positive Youth Development Staff Capacity Building

Mentioned in this video

organizationHack Your Future

organizationUS Soccer Foundation

A collaborating organization with 'Soccer for Success,' a program aimed at engaging immigrant families in health, nutrition, physical education, and acculturation.

conceptUri Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Model

A model that conceptualizes individuals as nested within multiple interacting systems, used to understand immigrants and refugees as active agents who can use resources to thrive in new environments.

personMitch Mason

An extension professor with the University of Maine, located in Southern Maine, and part of the presentation team.

organizationReimagining Migration

A concept or organization that discusses the migration journey as key to understanding immigrant and refugee communities, highlighting the importance of the individual's story and narrative.

organizationMigration Policy Institute

An organization whose articles on immigrant and refugee youth are cited as a valuable resource for understanding common assumptions and needs.

personMari Lou

An extension director at the University of Illinois, located in Northeast Illinois, and part of the presentation team.

personDr. Doss

A strategist at Iowa State University, formerly with extension.

organizationCooperative Extension

An organization over 100 years old in the U.S., tasked with translating research to local levels and sharing local knowledge for research. It's a federal, state, and local organization found in every county, parish, and borough, with thousands of educators and over two million volunteers.

conceptLand Grant

A term recognized as both a verb and a noun, reflecting the historical taking of land from indigenous people in the Midwest and West to fund universities. The presentation acknowledges this historical context.

conceptCommunity Integration Model of Refugee Resettlement

A model used by resettlement agencies that emphasizes collaboration among service providers to create a thriving community for newcomers.

organizationRefugee, Immigrant and Refugee Youth Champions group

A group of nine extension staff and former staff, part of a larger collective within Cooperative Extension, focused on enhancing inclusion and belonging for immigrant and refugee youth.

toolIntercultural Development Inventory (IDI)

A project mentioned as an example of an initiative that can help staff in Maine develop cultural humility, although it is described as expensive.