Immigrant and Refugee Children

Supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Fifteen sites have been funded under this grant initiative. New grant applications are no longer being accepted.



Caring Across Communities, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) initiative, addresses the mental health needs of underserved children and youth by supporting school-connected mental health services for students who require them. In the grant program, special emphasis will be given to projects that help children of immigrant and refugee families overcome the cultural and language barriers to mental health services. Click here for the Call for Proposals
(PDF version, HTML version)

Call for Proposals

Issue Briefs

Issue Brief #1: Screening and Assessing Immigrant and Refugee Youth in School-Based Mental Health Programs
Dina Birman, PhD, and graduate student Wing Yi Chan begin our series of papers that will address what is known about best practice in providing school-based mental health services to children of immigrants and refugees with this overview on screening and assessment tools.

Press Releases

RWJF Announces New School-Connected Mental Health Services

New Initiative Will Fund School-Based Mental Health Services for Children and Youth

October 2007 Webinar Presentations

Mental Health Screening in Schools, Joshua Kaufman, School Mental Health Services, Los Angeles Unified School District

Beyond Exceptional Care: A Communications Imperative – Attracting, Keeping and Growing Support for the Well-Being of Children of Immigrants and Refugees, Seth Klukoff and Mark Marosits, Worldways Social Marketing

Information from the Caring Across Communities and Fresh Ideas Grantee Meeting, March 18 - 20, 2008

• Fresh Ideas grantee presentations
  
• Speaker presentations and handouts
• Additional Resources
  

Information from the Caring Across Communities Grantee Meeting, March 14 – 16, 2007

• Grantee presentations
• Speaker presentations

Background Information on Children of Immigrants and Refugees

• Fact Sheet -- Children of Immigrants and Refugees: What the research tells us 
• InFocus: Children in Immigrant Families 
• Children in Immigrant Families – The U.S. and 50 States: National Origins, Language, and Early Education, Child Trends, April 2007.

• Working with Interpreters in Mental Health Settings, Yeshashwork Kibour, PhD, Center for Multicultural Human Services
  
• Recommended Standards/Best Practices
• Interpreter Training Table
  

• Language Access 
• Cultural Competency 
• Evidence-based Interventions 
• Other Key Issues and Resources