Are Social Workers Ready to Serve Newcomers

1
Are Social Workers Ready to Serve Newcomers?

• Miu Chung Yan, Ph.D.
• Associate Professor
• School of Social Work
• University of British Columbia
• Email miu.yan_at_ubc.ca

2
Conceptualizing the Challenges of Newcomers
Structural Challenges
Category
Physical Challenges
Newcomer
Health Challenges
Migration Process
Familial Challenges
3
Challenges to Newcomers

• Physical
• Climate changes ways of living, health concern
• Living arrangement ghettolization, urbanization
  and suburbanization
• Limited mobility strange place, inadequate
  public transportation
• Structural
• Economic challenges employment and financial
  condition, transnational economic support
  (astronaut families)
• Social challenges housing and social networks
• Cultural challenges language, adaptation, ways
  of living, value conflicts
• Discriminatory challenges discriminations
  against their cultural, racial, newcomer status

4
Challenges to Newcomers

• Health and mental health
• Mental health anxiety and stress, homesick,
  posttraumatic problems, identity crisis (loss of
  status and adaptation to new roles)
• Physical health overworking, new diet
• Lack of knowledge and access to health care
  service
• Familial
• Marital relationship change in traditional
  gender role
• Intergenerational conflicts cultural and
  language differences, challenges to traditional
  parenting practice
• Transnational relationship satellite kids,
  grandparent care, womens burden

5
Social Work Newcomers

• Where are social workers in newcomer settlement
  process?
• What roles are SWr playing in newcomers
  settlement process?

6
Social Work Newcomers (1)

• Areas where social work trained personnel play no
  key role.
• Primary prevent problems from happening,
  developmental programs Settlement service,
  employment Counselling, community development
• Orientation and adaptation to new ways of living
• Job, employment, housing, education, language
• Re-establish new social capitals (within and
  between groups)
• Only a handful of mainly foreign trained social
  workers

7
Social Work Newcomers (2)

• Major areas where social workers are playing
  critical roles
• Secondary early stage intervention to change or
  control the causes e.g., family and individual
  counselling services, recovery support
• Tertiary reducing the harms of the problems,
  crisis intervention e.g., family crisis, mental
  health breakdown, child abuse cases,
  institutional services

8
BCASW Study

• Exploratory study, online survey conducted in
  April 2007
• Research question Are BCASW members ready to
  work with newcomers?
• 4 sections
• Nature of service and organization,
• knowledge of newcomers,
• Training (Special Skill Set),
• Demographic data.
• Last for about four weeks with two emails sent to
  all members
• Only members of BCASW (about 1150 people)
• 218 people visited the survey (about 20 of total
  membership)
• 195 answered up to Q5 (skipping sections b to d)
  
• 187 answered up to Q13 (skipping section c and
  d)
• 186 completed the whole survey (skipping section
  d)

9
Demographic Profile

• N186
• 154 (F), 32 (M)
• Age Average 47 (median 45-49, mode 50-54)
• 140 born in Canada
• 22 Racial minority, 51 cultural minority (self
  identified)
• BSW 61, MSW 95, Other 30 (in progress)
• 84 Working in Health and Mental Health related
  services, 42 family and child protection, only 5
  immigrant settlement related services

10
Major Findings

• (Total 217 answers)
• Most respondents are working in organizations
  (n144, 66.3) or programs (n161, 74.2) that do
  not have a specific mandate to serve newcomers.
• In their current job, most respondents will not
  be notified (n124, 57.2) or are required to
  know (n138, 63.6) the immigrant status of their
  clients.
• Only 25 (11.5) respondents reported that issues
  of newcomers are routinely discussed in their
  organizations meeting, which 56 reported
  occasionally, 75 (34.6) seldom and 61 (28.1) not
  that they can recall.

11
Imminent Issues of Newcomers and Respondents
Perception of Preparation
(Up to three choices) It seems that social
workers are prepared to handle economic security
and emotional/mental health issues. The
respondents perceived that they are not well
prepared for policies related issues, cultural
adaptation and language.
12
Knowledge of I/R Policies
N195
13
Respondents Self Perception of Readiness
14
In-service Training

• As their own professional growth, out of the 187
  respondents, 65.78 reported, having taken
  courses on cultural sensitivity and 39.75 on
  antiracist practice. Only 18.18 took course
  specifically on how to work with newcomers.
• How many of their employers did provide these
  kinds of training to them?

15
Were Respondents Prepared at School to Work with
Newcomers?

• Out of the 187 respondents answered this
  question, only 26.74 (n50) reported that they
  took course specifically on issues related to
  newcomers when they were in school.
• Then how about their impression on newcomers
  related materials covered in different courses of
  the program that they had gone through?

16
Skill Set Needed

• 76.47 and 73.8 respondents suggested that a
  general cross-cultural and a general
  anti-oppressive social work courses are necessary
  but not sufficient to equip them to serve
  newcomers.
• The overwhelming reasons are
• Existing courses are too general and not
  practical
• Requiring specific knowledge about newcomers
• specific policies and programs affecting their
  life chance
• newcomers have specific needs, issues, challenges
  and problems due to their migration process and
  status

17
Suggestions to Social Work Education

• What needs to be included?
• Canadian immigrant history
• Policies and legislation relevant to newcomers
• Programs, services, resources and information
• Needs, challenges and difficulties of newcomers
• Health and mental health issues related to
  migration
• Creative approaches

• Is course on working with newcomers needed?
• BSW Level
• Required course 55.08
• Selective course 40.64
• MSW level
• Required course 44.39
• Selective course 49.20

18
Suggestions for BCASW

• What should be included?
• Cross-cultural training Cultural sensitivity,
  communication skills, assessment and intervention
  strategies
• Anti-racism training
• Policies, legislations, services, resources and
  programs
• Pattern of immigration and settlement process and
  needs
• Newcomers health and mental health issues e.g.
  survivors of torture, issues related to grief and
  loss, PTSD

19
Observations

• Are (BC) Social Workers ready? Not quite!
• Lack of understanding of the migration process,
  policies, challenges and conditions of migrants,
  programs and services
• Impacting problem assessments
• Limiting the advocacy role
• Lack of resource to match needs and services
• Minimal role in the primary level of helping
• Passive in helping newcomers to settle crisis
  oriented form of helping
• LSIC newcomers dont go to professional human
  and health service professionals
• Therapeutization of the social work profession
• Culturalization or racialization of newcomer
  problems
• Insensitive to demographic and social change in
  social work curriculum and in-service training

20
Implications

• Implications for newcomer settlement
• Social service providers lack knowledge and
  sensitivity of newcomers settlement needs.
• Lack of professional social work service to
  prevent and support newcomers to deal with
  personal and familial problems in the early
  settlement stage.
• LSIC results not seeking help from
  professionals.
• Division of labour or fragmentation of social
  service in supporting newcomer settlement?
• What can (should) be done?
• Systematic (national) study on the readiness of
  human and health professions such as nurse,
  teachers, medical doctor and social workers.
• For the social work profession
• Social work professional associations take an
  active role in newcomers issues
• Developing appropriate curriculum for social work
  education
• Social service organizations
• Review intake policy and practice to sensitize
  workers with clients newcomer status
• Provide specific and relevant in-service training