A child who seems disinterested may actually be depressed, living with parents who themselves are disengaged and depressed as they struggle to adjust. A student with violent outbursts, who might just appear undisciplined, can be reliving the emotion of a turbulent event in a war-torn country, experiencing a heightened "flight or fight" response. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) recognized the need for mental health care for this critical population and launched a new program in March 2007. Under the Caring Across Communities (CAC) Initiative, RWJF awarded grants totaling $4.5 million to 15 projects aimed at reducing emotional and behavioral health problems among students in low-income immigrant and refugee families. The Caring Across Communities project directors share information with national program leaders at the Center for Health and Health Care in School at The George Washington University, as well as with each other at collaborative meetings. A number of successful strategies have emerged for engaging immigrant and refugee families in support of their children's mental health. This paper discusses these strategies.

In a unique effort, this book brings together, for the first time, scholarly analyses by eminent researchers of the historical, social, legal, and cultural influences on the young newcomers' lives as well as reports by practitioners in major aid organizations about the concrete work that their organizations have been carrying out.

The focus of this book is on educational equity issues affecting immigrants and refugees around the world. Chapters highlight educational approaches that build from experiential knowledge, draw upon multiple languages, consider group identity, grapple with the complexities of inclusion, address family concerns, promote parental involvement, involve liaison with community agencies, and view cultural differences as educational strengths. While the book does not shy away from exploring the more challenging aspects of the refugee and immigrant experience, it avoids dwelling on victimology and rejects applying a deficit framework. Rather it offers hope, emphasizing the potential strengths of refugees, including their cultural capital and survival skills. The authors also make cogent suggestions for structural, pedagogical, and conceptual reform, with targets ranging from individual teachers to educational systems to social, economic, political, and cultural contexts.

Community colleges serve as a critical gateway to English-language instruction, higher education, workforce training, and civic engagement for many immigrants and refugees looking to gain an economic foothold in the labor market and integrate into the social fabric of their communities. Coming from various walks of life with different goals and aspirations, immigrants and refugees have turned to community colleges to help them further their education, prepare for citizenship, or launch new careers. At a time when our nation is facing bitter political divides over its immigration policies and gridlock at the federal level, this book tells a different story: It showcases the exemplary initiatives of community colleges and their partners working together at local and state levels to integrate immigrants and refugees into the economic, social, and cultural fabric of our communities and our country, and it illustrates the various ways immigrant and refugee students enrich campus life, strengthen communities, and benefit our economy. This book focuses on two key components of successful immigrant and refugee integration: multisector partnerships that have been essential for increasing immigrant and refugee students’ college and career readiness and assuring their transition to further education, training, or jobs; and strategies related to replicating and scaling best-practice models and the policy implications involved.

This important book offers strategies, models, and concrete ideas for better serving newcomer immigrant and refugee youth in U.S. schools, with a focus on grades 6–12. The authors present 20 strategies grouped under three categories: (1) classroom and instructional design, (2) school design, and (3) extracurricular, community, and alumni partnerships. Each chapter provides research-based information, classroom examples, tips for implementing each strategy, and additional resources. Readers will find engaging profiles of schools, students, and alumni interspersed throughout the book, offering both varied perspectives and practical advice. Humanizing Education for Immigrant and Refugee Youth will assist today’s educators, school leaders, policymakers, and scholars interested in the holistic success and well-being of immigrant and refugee students. Book Features: Practical strategies for educators and school leaders are rooted in empirical research and classroom narratives from across the United States.Multiple, real-life examples are used to illustrate each strategy.Each chapter concludes with a brief summary and recommended resources.School and student profiles demonstrate what the strategies look like in practice, as well as their benefits for students.Diverse perspectives are presented by researchers, classroom teachers, school leaders, and newcomer students.

In this book, internationally migrant families invite us to listen to the storylines of their mostly muted voices as they navigate the local schools in their new cultural context. They call us to hear them as they grapple with issues they encounter. They implore us to feel like an outsider and see the school as a foreign culture with language and communication barriers. The book is organized to enhance this carework. Each chapter begins with a vignette that includes the voices of one or more members of international migrating families, while introducing the context of the chapter. At the end of each chapter readers will find specific implications to consider. These are constructed with preservice teachers, practicing teachers, and educational administrators in mind. As you read each chapter, there is the call for school transformation. The families in this book entreat school personnel to engage with international migrant families and to embrace a risk and resilience model as we strive together for success. These storylines challenge us to examine our personal storylines for biases and deficit understandings and call us all to purposefully rewrite these in the spirit of possibilities as the families in this book have embodied for us.