Children Refugees It Is Estimated Term Paper

Manchester (2004) discusses the work in New Zealand of ON TRACC, Auckland's Transcultural Care Centre, which offers an intersectoral approach to severe behavioral and mental health issues for children and young people from refugee backgrounds living in the central city. Established as a pilot program last year, it provides specialized interventions involving the school, family and mental health services for refugee children who have been identified as having high and complex needs. Delivered in partnership with refugee communities, it involves three major services: The Ministry of Education Special Education, the Auckland District Health Board Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (Kari Centre), and the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services. The ON TRACC team consists of psychologists, a psychiatrist, social workers, cultural advisers and a behavioral support worker. Some of the team members are from refugee backgrounds. It is the first time such a transcultural and intersectoral service has been tried in New Zealand.

Interventions can include assistance with the process of acculturation, managing stress, anger, loss and grief, and trauma counseling. The ON TRACC service also works to support young people's participation in the school setting, with the goal of helping reduce learning barriers, strengthen family units and raise awareness with teachers and schools of the complex issues surrounding refugee children and families (Manchester, 2004).

As recognized by ON TRACC, refugees first require a host of life-support services as well as those for mental health. The two go hand-in-hand and cannot be divorced from one another. A study therefore should be conducted that looks at the outcome factors of a cross-service program for refugees, such as ON TRACC in New Zealand. The article ON TRACC noted above states that the program initially served 24 referrals since the service began; 12 young people and their families are presently being seen (Manchester, 2004).

OBJECTIVE. 1) To measure the effectiveness of using the schools as a means of reaching children refugees who require mental health support and their caregivers, and to 2) compare the effectiveness of using the schools as a communication means vs. other vehicles: posters in social service agencies, social workers and other professionals, religious organizations, public billboards, media.METHOD: For a three-month period, there will be a concentrated communication effort to obtain the names of children refugees who require social service support and/or their caregivers. During this time, the schools will be contacted, press releases will be sent to the media, and letters and fliers distributed to the other outlets noted above. A record will be kept of which vehicle provided the information and encouraged the individuals to call for support. The responses will be compared.

The dependent variable is the communication piece -- letter and flier -- that describes the program and encourages children/families to call for services. The independent variable is the different communication vehicles to which the communication is sent.

References Cited

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Manchester, Anne. Nursing New Zealand, Sept 2004 v10 i8 p24(1)

Meeting the needs of refugee children: helping resolve the complex mental health needs of refugee children living in New Zealand is the aim of a new intersectoral service in Auckland. [Electronic version] Nursing New Zealand 10(8), 24-25.

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