1. Danielle Parker, SPCHR Apprenticeship Awardee Mentors: Jessica Goodkind, PhD & Julia Meredith Hess, PhD Refugees Worldwide Refugees in the United States End of 2009, 43.3 million forcibly displaced people worldwide 15.2 million were refugees 41% of refugees and asylum seekers were children 18 years of age and below (2009 Global Trends) In 2009, U.S. among top 3 countries receiving most applications from persons seeking asylum or refugee status (2009 Global Trends) 74,654 refugees resettled in the U.S. in 2009 (U.S. Department of State, 2010) 35-40% of refugees in U.S. are children (Bridging Refugee Youth & Children Services, 2010) Refugee Children Mental Health and Well-being High prevalence of PTSD symptoms and other mental health disorders Susceptible to negative peer pressure and potentially could engage in behaviors related to gang violence and substance and alcohol abuse (National Child Traumatic Stress Network Trauma Task Force, 2003)

2. Methods Refugee Well-being Project (RWP) Community-based research project Designed to better understand resettlement process of refugees in the U.S. Combines mutual learning and advocacy methods by pairing UNM undergraduate students with refugee partners Aims to empower refugee children and their families by building skills and knowledge, changing attitudes and beliefs, and facilitating the identification and use of personal strengths (Goodkind, 2005; 2006) Research Design Within-group longitudinal design Data was collected from 3 years of RWP (2006-2009) which consisted of:  4 individual participant interviews (qualitative and quantitative components) over 9 month period (pre, mid, post, and follow-up)  1 qualitative student-partner interview (post; semi-structured; open-ended)  1 qualitative student-student interview (post; semi-structured; open-ended) Qualitative Analyses Interviews were transcribed and checked Data was thematically coded into themes and sub-themes Analysis conducted on:  44 refugee children from Burundi, DRC, Congo, Liberia & Rwanda; age range 7-18; 24 girls and 20 boys  28 UNM undergraduates; 23 women and 5 men

3. Results Challenges, Struggles & Problems Refugee ChildrenUNM Students School (work, bullying) Emotions & Behavior (homesickness, boredom, anger, fighting, arguing) Lack of Knowledge (English & U.S.) Lack of Resources (jobs, financial struggles, housing) Lack of Social Support (loss of friendships, no sense of belonging) School Poverty Lack of Social Support “It’s too hard…You lose all your friends and don’t know anything. You go here, I don’t belong here, you go here, I don’t belong here...” –Jen, age 11 “When you come here, the first time, and you don’t know anything yet. And kids make fun of you” -Cathie, age 9 “I learned that it’s a lot more difficult for some people and that America just doesn’t really impress me that much…well, I guess it does, I mean we really do a lot of good things and I think there are a lot of programs but it’s hard for people to learn how to access them and I think no one’s there to ever really help.” -Michelle, UNM student

4. Results Strengths and Advocacy Strengths Refugee YouthUNM Students School Sports Art Dance Music Family Intelligent Resilient Strong Hard working Adaptable Independent Self-sufficient Perseverant “The most important thing I learned from Nick is how independent and how resilient children are. I was so impressed how smart he is and how fast he learned all the stuff in America even not just school and education wise…like all the things that we do in our culture, just the nuances that we have.” -Adriana, UNM student Advocacy “I’m so very grateful…If it wasn’t for your help, I really wouldn't have been able to do well in those classes, math and history…you especially were so instrumental because I could call you to go and help.” –Chantal, age 14 “I learned how to help people…I learned how to help people help themselves. And I feel like I learned how to teach things that I hadn’t really thought about teaching before. Things that I knew already, and I didn’t think that I would ever need to teach them to somebody.” -Evelyn, UNM student “I think that there’s many barriers for community members to access resources, let alone refugees who come from other countries, that don’t speak the language. It was very difficult for me to access some resources for my partner. Some of the things he wanted to do…was he wanted money, but he’s at a very young age where he can’t work yet, so accessing resources to help him actually get money is actually really hard for some people. But he actually did a very good job. He found other ways to get what he wanted.” –Tyler, UNM student

5. Conclusion/Discussion Conclusion Refugee children faces challenges and have needs but also have a lot of strengths and resiliency. Therefore, approaching research and interventions from a strengths perspective seems to be most useful. Implications for Future Research and Intervention Strength perspectives AND empowerment theory. (RWP already incorporates empowerment theory.) Empowerment theory (Rappaport, 1981) is supported by RWP data analyzed which highlight the following:  Poor functioning is viewed as a result of social structure and lack of resources  Competencies are already present  Given the opportunity, people can utilize competencies and act as the expert of their own lives  Research and interventions require collaboration, divergent and dialectical thinking, and solutions Refugee children already have their own strengths. Students identify and build on youths’ strengths and help facilitate their realization through advocacy. By helping refugee youth to mobilize resources, students can create a context in which strengths can flourish. Context then provides a “niche” in which refugee youth are empowered. (Ex: Self-advocating) This can only be done if the “expert/helper” roles are transcended, possibly even reversed. Requires great awareness of behalf of the students, supports transformative learning in RWP.