Facilitating Positive Development in Immigrant Youth

Francisco A. Villaruel, Daniel F. Perkins, Lynne M. Borden. Community Youth Development. Programs, Policies, and Practices/Sage Publications, 2003. 
 

Nearly 80% of all the immigrants in the US come from Latin America, Asia, and the Afro-Caribbean basin. Latino immigrants from Central and South Africa make up the largest group, that is why the majority of the research on difficulties and challenges facing immigrants is focused on this group.

Immigrant parents, many of whom have limited English skills, often find it difficult to monitor their children’s academic progress, keep track of their children’s after-school activities, and understand their children’s experiences. As a result, immigrant youth are vulnerable to emotional difficulties and more likely to be engaged in risky behaviors.

Community organizations working with immigrant youth provide a broad array of services within the framework of youth development. Volunteer mentors and community youth workers can provide support for adolescents growing up in challenging environments which will help the youth to achieve their goals and reach their potential. Most programs for the immigrant youth are targeted at specific ethnic groups to better address the challenges that they are facing.

Some of the programs (targeted at Latino and Caribbean youth) are focused on preventing risky behaviors and negative outcomes, like teen pregnancy, substance use, academic failure, etc. Other organizations (aimed at Asian youth) focus on the development of academic skills and the provision of information regarding college admissions.

Some examples of programs for immigrants

Combining mentoring and the Arts. Bajucol is a community organization that provides Colombian youth living in the Boston area with an opportunity to embrace their roots, culture, and folklore.

Using Arts to cope with the realities of immigrant life. The program was developed to help youth cope with the challenges of immigrant life, realities of growing up in an inner-city area, through music, improvisational acting, and movement.

Intergenerational community problem-solving. It is a peer education and leadership program based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, initiated to respond to the need for HIV/AIDS prevention education among Haitian youth and to provide them with the tools to confront discrimination     and racism.