ResilienceBased Programming for Newly Arrived Children and Youth

Resilience-Based Programming for Newly Arrived Children and Youth: A Case Study of the Intercultural Program at the Center for Grieving Children Presented by Katherine Cyrus, MSW Master’s Thesis University of Southern Maine May 8, 2020

Overview Chapter 1. Background Chapter 2. Theoretical Frameworks Chapter 3. Literature Review Chapter 4. The Center for Grieving Children Chapter 5. Methods Chapter 6. Findings Chapter 7. Discussion and Implications

Chapter 1. Background ● The current study assesses what support services are needed to help newly-arrived children and youth. ● Internationally, more than 68. 5 million people have been forced to leave their country of origin (Santiago & Smith, 2019). ● The main stressors that many migrants face are trauma, acculturation, and collective loss. ● Maine has experienced a sharp increase in the growth of migrant populations since the 1990’s and Portland, Maine has become a leader in immigrant and refugee service provision, asylum seeker rapid rehousing, and community-based interventions (Billings, 2019).

Chapter 2. Theoretical Frameworks I. Risk and Resilience Theory II. Social Constructionist Theory ● Risk and resilience theory analyzes how an individual uses multidimensional resources to overcome risks and promote healthy development (Ungar, 2008). ● Critical theory that highlights the process by which people come to describe, explain, and account for the world in which they live (Gergen, 1985). ● Protective factors, assets, and resources are all used to overcome risk. ● ● The terms risk and adversities can be used interchangeably and are described as a element that negatively impacts an individual or group. Attempts to understand the oppression in order to generate societal and individual transformation (Solórzano & Bernai, 2001). ● Shapes the social identity of newly-arrived children and youth.

Chapter 3. Literature Review Resilience-based interventions and programming for immigrant and refugee youth: ● ● ● Community-Based Culturally-Adaptive Creative-Expressive Social Justice Trauma-Informed

Chapter 4. The Center for Grieving Children “Anytime there is change, there is loss. Anytime there is loss, there is grief” (CGC, 2018 a). ● The Center for Grieving Children (CGC) is a non-profit 503(b) organization that provides peer-support services to children and families in Maine who are experiencing grief and loss. ● CGC offers three programs on site: Bereavement, Tender Loving Care (TLC), and the Intercultural Program. ● Each program is guided by CGC’s Model of reflective listening and peer-support.

The Intercultural Program ● The Intercultural Program (formally known as the Multicultural Program) was founded in 1997 after the death of a Cambodian child in the community (St Thomas & Johnson, 2007). ● The Intercultural Program collaborates with Portland Public Schools to provide after-school peer support groups to over seventy-five elementary and middle school participants per year. ● Participants are selected by their school social workers on the basis of perceived or known experiences of collective loss, trauma, post migration, isolation, and/or acculturative stress. ● Referred students are from a range of countries, including but not limited to: Honduras, El Salvador, Kenya, Somalia, Nigeria, Congo, Vietnam, Sudan, Iraq, Uganda, and Haiti (CGC, 2019 f). ● The Intercultural Program model aims to guide participants on their unique path to healing positively impacting resilience.

Chapter 5. Methods ● Single case study methodology was employed to generate a holistic evaluation of the Intercultural Program’s impact on participants. This design does not aim to generate generalizable findings. ● Triangulation of data points: ○ Semi-structured interviews with staff (N = 5) and volunteer facilitators (N = 5). ○ Participatory observations (6 days). ○ Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM-R; Jefferies, Mc. Garrigle & Ungar, 2018) Pre-Test and Post Test (N = 8). ● All student participants and volunteer facilitators, as well as selected staff members, were invited to participate. ● Mixed-methods design used inductive thematic analysis and simple descriptive and inferential statistics to analyze qualitative and quantitative data points.

Research and Data Collection Timeline November 2019 December 2019 January 2020 February 2020 March 2020 April 2020 Obtain IRB Approval Begin Observations, Interviews, and CYRM-R Pre-Test Continue Interviews and Observations Complete Interviews and Observations CYRM-R Post. Test Analyze and Interpret Research Findings Gather Consent Forms from Guardians, Students, Facilitators, and Staff

Chapter 6. Findings Qualitative Quantitative Two overarching themes emerged from interviews and participatory observations: I. II. ● Cross-Cultural Learning i. Cultural Consciousness ii. Stressors Resilience and Participant Growth i. Balance ii. Safety Cumulative scores for resilience declined between the CYRM-R pre-test and standard deviation was insignificant. ○ Pre-Test Mean = 71. 75, SD = 7. 206; and ○ Post-Test Mean = 69. 57, SD = 6. 964. ● Individual Items contributed to the discussion of qualitative themes of resilience and participant growth, support, and belonging. ● Quantitative findings were affected by: iii. Support ○ Limited participant pool iv. Belonging ○ Lack of a control group.

Chapter 7. Discussion and Implications I. Discussion II. Recommendations and Limitations III. Conclusion

Discussion: I. Cross-Cultural Learning Interpretation: Through a process of bicultural acculturation, the Intercultural Program aims to foster mutual engagement of cultural learning between participants, facilitators, and staff. This process requires facilitators and staff to develop cultural consciousness and understand the cultural stressors that participant’s face. Barriers: Barriers to achieving cross-cultural learning, as identified in the findings and current literature, are the lack of diverse staff members and volunteer facilitators and the need for greater integration into participant’s families, communities, and schools. Implications for Programming: ● ● Greater diversity among staff and facilitators. Increased integration into participant’s families, communities, and schools. Access to more cross-cultural learning opportunities and trainings for staff and facilitators. Define a trauma-informed protocol for facilitators.

Discussion: II. Resilience & Participant Growth Belonging 4 Support Positively impacted by support from facilitators and the collective community; however, it is inconclusive if peer support is positively impacted. 3 Safety 2 Balance Positively impacted through increased regulation and decreased isolation. Positively impacted by the collective community but negatively impacted by compromised cultural belonging, inconsistencies in attendance, and creation of the ‘third space. ’ 1 Positively impacted over time but is threatened by lack of cultural representation and integration.

Limitations and Recommendations 1. Diversification & Integration 2. Improved Evaluation Tool 3. Additional Data Sources 4. Difficulty Obtaining Consent

Conclusion The interpretation of qualitative and quantitative findings concludes that resilience overall is positively impacted by the Intercultural Program through the development of balance, safety, support, and belonging. Although, additional student perspectives are needed in order to better understand the level of impact on certain aspects of these resources.

Resources Billings, Randy (2019, November 21). About 70 more asylum seekers expected to arrive in Portland this week: The African families released at the border in Texas will be offered overnight shelter in local gymnasiums, and city officials are making contingency plans in case the influx is larger than expected. Portland Press Herald. Retrieved from https: //www. pressherald. com/2019/11/21/more-asylum-seekers-on-way-to-portland/ Center for Grieving Children (2018 a). Facilitator Training Manual. Center for Grieving Children (2019 f). Intercultural Program. Retrieved from http: //www. cgcmaine. org/programs-and-services/intercultural/ Gergen, K. J. (1985). The social constructionist movement in modern psychology. American Psychologist , 40(3), 266– 275. Jefferies, P. , Mc. Garrigle, L. & Ungar, M. (2019) The CYRM-R: A rasch-validated revision of the Child and Youth Resilience Measure. Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work, 16 (1), 70 -92. https: //doi. org/10. 1080/23761407. 2018. 1548403 Santiago, A. M. , & Smith, R. J. (2019). Community practice with immigrant and refugee populations: Responding to a growing human rights crisis. Journal of Community Practice , 27(2), 111– 115. https: //doi. org/10. 1080/10705422. 2019. 1632103 Soloranzo, D. , & Bernal, D. (2001). Examining transformational resistance through critical race theory and Lat. CRIT theory framework: Chicana and Chicano in urban context. Urban Education, 36 (3), 308 -342. St. Thomas, B. , & Johnson, P. G. (2007). Empowering children through art and expression: Culturally sensitive ways of healing trauma and grief Publishers. Ungar, M. (2008). Resilience across cultures. British Journal of Social Work , 38(2), 218– 235. https: //doi. org/10. 1093/bjsw/bcl 343 . Jessica Kingsley