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 In the Spotlight: We would like to extend a special thank you to everyone who helped make
the May 19 PAIR Benefit Cocktail Hour a success. We couldn't have done
it without you!
As part of our Spring Capital Campaign, this fun event raised essential funds to keep our programs running.
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The Need for PAIR's Programs
For the last decade, Houston has become the home of between 1,500 and 2,000 refugees each year, on average. In recent years, the relative strength of the local economy has made Houston a primary resettlement site, and annual numbers have grown, with local agencies reporting 700 arrivals in July 2009 alone. At least 30 percent of arrivals are children of school age.[i] The refugees resettled in Houston come from many different countries, and each year brings a new mix of arrivals, reflecting the location of conflicts and disasters around the world. This year, a majority of newcomers are from Bhutan/Nepal, Myanmar (Burma), Iraq, Burundi, Congo, Afghanistan, Vietnam, and Eritrea. A recent study by the Office of Refugee Resettlement found that between 2000 and 2004, Houston refugees were "the most disadvantaged...in terms of their education and work skills" compared with two other cities that received a comparable number of refugees: over 22 percent of Houston adult arrivals had never attended school; another 21 percent had attended some school; nearly 56 percent had at least a high school education.[ii]
Refugee children experience a number of challenges in the course of their adjustment to their new home. These often include the effects of trauma and lack of or disruption in schooling in their home country, along with poverty, discrimination and racism, crisis of identity, alienation from parents and native culture, and separation from peers in their new home. These factors combine to create a sense of loneliness and lowered self-esteem in refugee children, which in turn often contribute to risky behaviors, including academic failure and school dropout.[iii]
Refugee youth also benefit from a number of assets particular to their history; among these are strong family values and religious heritage, bilingualism, confidence and leadership skills developed through dealing with the challenges of immigration, and flexibility and insight developed through exposure to different cultures.[iv]
Research points to the need for refugee youth to experience a positive adjustment to their new lives in the U.S. by building on these assets and by participating in culturally sensitive programs designed to assist them in overcoming the challenges.[v] The adjustment period after their arrival is critical to their successful adaptation to school and society. Further, their education is critically linked to both their and their families' integration into American society.[vi] Well-designed, culturally and developmentally appropriate cultural orientation and mentoring programs have been shown to contribute to positive academic achievement, and interest in and positive attitudes toward school.[vii]
In addition, studies have found that parental support for academic achievement is important to the school success of refugee youth. However, a number of factors affecting refugee parents make their support of their children's schooling difficult or impossible. These include the effects of trauma, which may make it difficult to provide emotional support; inability to help with homework due to lack of education or language ability; cultural differences, such as respect for authority, which makes it difficult to question a teacher; lack of understanding of the functioning of U.S. schools and the role of parents in them; and family conflict, especially that caused by the different rates of acculturation of parents and children.[viii]
Education beyond high school is now essential to economic security in the U.S. In addition, many measures of well-being increase with greater education, including life expectancy, median personal income, likelihood of employment, and voting and civic involvement.[ix] Refugee students who arrive in the U.S. with their education disrupted or without a tradition of formal education or without models of the value of higher education often do not attempt to access higher education because of lack of knowledge of their options or lack of understanding of its importance. These challenges are compounded by poverty, by inadequate support from the schools they attend and agencies that resettle them, and often by lack of parental support. Research has shown that academically-successful students and those who complete high school and go on to higher education have support from knowledgeable and caring adults in addition to their parents and teachers. These mentors provide extra encouragement, academic help, guidance built on experience in which courses to take, how to prepare for and apply to college, and how to access financial aid.[x]
[i] July arrival data, personal communication, Aaron Tate, Director of Refugee Resettlement Services, Interfaith Ministries, July 7, 2009; annual figures based on 2004-6 data provided by Texas DSHS.
[ii] Available at: www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/resources/synthesis_of_finding5.htm#_Toc178156668.
[iii] This research is summarized in J. Lynn McBrien, "Educational Needs and Barriers for Refugee Students in the U.S.," Review of Educational Research, Fall 2005, 75 (3): 329-364.
[iv] Susan Schmidt, Lyn Morland, and Jennifer Rose, "Growing Up in a New Country: A Positive Youth Development Toolkit for Working with Refugees and Immigrants," Bridging Refugee Youth & Children's Services, March 2009
[v] See McBrien.
[vi] Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, "Investing in Communities: Strategies for Immigrant Integration," p. 101, available at: www.gcir.org/publications/toolkit.
[vii] Richard Lerner, Aerika Brittian, and Kristen Fay, "Mentoring: A Key Resource for Promoting Positive Youth Development," Mentor/National Mentoring Partnership, 2007.
[viii] McBrien summarizes some of this research, pp.345-347; BRYCS Spring 2007 Spotlight: Involving Refugee Parents in Their Children's Education, brycs.org/brycs_spotspring2007.htm; Zenub Kakli, Holly Kreider, Priscilla Little, et al., "Focus on Families! How to Build and Support Family-Centered Practices in After School," United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Harvard Family Research Project, and Build the Out-of-School Time Network, 2006, 12, also address this issue.
[ix] Common Good Forecaster, available at: http://www.liveunited.org/forecaster.
[x] U.S. Dept. of Education Partnership for Family Involvement in Education, 'Yes, You Can: A Guide for Establishing Mentoring Programs to Prepare Youth for College,' October 1998, available at http://www.ed.gov/PDFDocs/yyc.pdf.
PAIR is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Houston, Texas.
Please contact us at PAIR.Houston@gmail.com.6440 Hillcroft, Suite 210, Houston, TX 77081 | (713) 771 - 1111