Posts

What Do Immigrant Students Need? It Isn’t Just ELL

By Jill Anderson, Reprinted from Harvard Graduate School of Education Educators need to do more to address the basic social-emotional needs of immigrant children if they are to advance in learning, says Professor Carola Suárez-Orozco. She is the director of the Immigration Initiative at Harvard, where she’s focused on the practices that can change immigrant […]

How Natural Mentoring Impacts Unaccompanied Immigrant Youths Leaving Residential Care

Reference: Alarcón, X., & Mirković, B. (2023). “Those bridges that help you get there”: How natural mentors improve social support and social capital of unaccompanied immigrant youths leaving residential care. Residential Treatment For Children & Youth. https://doi.org/10.1080/0886571X.2023.2241816 Summarized By: Ariel Ervin About the Study In Catalonia, unaccompanied immigrant youth live in reception centers until they […]

Addressing the Trauma of Undocumented Immigrant Children and Families

    Date: November 3, 2023, Noon-1 PM EST/9-10 AM PST In an era marked by heightened animosity towards unauthorized immigrants in America, harsh immigrant policies contribute to detentions and deportations that result in detrimental consequences (e.g., family separation and compounded trauma), highlighting the need for policymakers and mental health professionals to address the adverse […]

The impact mentoring has on the psychological & academic outcomes of unaccompanied migrant youth in Barcelona

Alarcón, X., Bobowik, M., & Prieto-Flores, Ò. (2021). Mentoring for Improving the Self-Esteem, Resilience, and Hope of Unaccompanied Migrant Youth in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(10), 5210.  https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18105210 Summarized by Ariel Ervin Notes of Interest: The number of unaccompanied migrant youths in Europe has grown over the past few […]

The role transnational family support & youth mentoring has on unaccompanied immigrant youths in Spain

Alarcón, X., & Prieto-Flores, Ò. (2021). Transnational family ties and networks of support for unaccompanied immigrant youths in Spain: The role of youth mentoring in Barcelona. Children and Youth Services Review, 128, 106140.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106140 Summarized by Ariel Ervin. Notes of Interest: There has been a significant increase of unaccompanied migrant youth arriving in Spain in recent years. […]

Things May Fall Apart but You Will Make it Through with a Little Help from your Family, Friends, Teachers, and School

We are pleased to feature this thoughtful essay about first generation college students from Professor Margarita Azmitia. Dr. Azmitia grew up in Guatemala and is a Professor of Psychology at the University of California at Santa Cruz. She studies how family, peer, schools, and communities contour adolescents and young adults educational and identity pathways, adolescents’ friendships, […]

Mentoring program promotes social and emotional well-being of young immigrants in Spain

Sánchez-Aragón, A., Belzunegui-Eraso, A., & Prieto-Flores, Ò. (2021). Results of Mentoring in the Psychosocial Well-Being of Young Immigrants and Refugees in Spain. Healthcare, 9(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9010013 Summarized by Ariel Ervin Notes of Interest:  Evidence has shown that non-parental figures play an important role in the social inclusion of vulnerable communities and that mentoring can help promote positive […]

Now more than ever: Best practices for working with immigrant youth

by Jean Rhodes Editor’s note: Mentors who are working with the many immigrant children in our country are, no doubt, concerned about the immigration-related policies of the former administration, including its the anti-immigration rhetoric and hate incidents/speech of recent months. Although President Biden is seeking to reverse many of the measures, and restore DACA, the policies […]

Profiles in Mentoring: A conversation with Maurice Crul on mentoring and immigrant youth

Editor’s Note: I had the pleasure of meeting Professor Maurice Crul at the European Centre for Evidence-Based Mentoring last year. He is a rock star in the field of immigration and has been leading efforts to explore how mentoring affects immigrant youth. Dr. Crul has published extensively on the educational careers of children of immigrants both nationally […]

Wisdom from Carola Suárez-Orozco

Editor’s Note: A version of this appeared a few months ago but the topic seems particularly relevant these days. With this in mind, here’s a shortened version Hope it’s helpful! by Jean Rhodes Carola Suárez-Orozco, Professor of Human Development and Psychology at UCLA. Carola is well equipped to tackle this issue. She is co-author of “Transitions: […]