Creating Confianza : Addressing Stigma through Trust and Access

Creating Confianza: Addressing Stigma through Trust and Access Mimi V. Chapman, MSW, Ph.D. presenting on behalf of the Confianza Team: UNC Chapel Hill, El Futuro and Chatham County Schools Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Caring Across Communities Initiative

Our Purpose • The goal of Confianza is to design a new service delivery system for new immigrant and Spanish-speaking middle and high school youth and their families.

School Characteristics • Chatham Middle School • 64% Latino students • 8% Latino teachers • 89% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch • Jordan Matthews High School • 36% Latino Students • 6% Latino teachers • 58% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch

Service Use Patterns (n=164) • Importance of Getting Help • 98% say that it’s important to get help for emotional and behavioral problems • 99% say would probably get help for kid displaying problems • Barriers to getting Intervention • Time • 77% worried that they would not have enough time in general • 94% worried they would not have enough time to go to appointments • 70% reported that they would have to miss work to take their adolescent • Cost • 72% worried about the cost of services • Of those who were concerned about the cost: • 76% had no insurance • 17% worried that their insurance would not cover services • Information • 80% stated that they did not know who in their community helped adolescents • 40% wished that their community offered different types of services. Of those: • 35% wished for more professional helpers/career counseling, • 27% for more recreational • 28% prevention programs, • 0% said traditional/cultural healer

Service Use (Continued) • Culture • 27% would find it difficult to speak with someone outside their family about personal issues • 22% said it was difficult to ask for help • 23% said they would feel shame asking for help • 12% worried about what their family would think • 10% worried about what their friends would think • 11% worried about what other people would think • To Best Help, Helpers Should: • Speak their language • 81% say language is important or very important • 9% say language is not important at all • Understand their culture • 68% say cultural understanding is important or very • 21% say it would not be important at all

Are they getting services? Only 3% of parents said adolescents have received mental health services.

Confianza Update • 150 students served • 3 additional schools • 5 Parent Nights (20-30 parents attending) • Newsletter – Spanish/English • Finalist for additional Teacher Training funding • Sustainability discussions beginning.

Pregnancy Inhalant Use Cutting Depression Pre-gang involvement Anxiety ADHD Trauma Adjustment to a New Environment Family Concerns Parent Concerns Child Maltreatment Domestic Violence Parental Substance Abuse Unaccompanied Minors What Types of Student & Family Needs?

The Past is Always Present…

Caring Across Communities? Latino Community? Students? Other Agencies in the Community? Parents? Teachers/School System?

What makes a successful interventionist: Boundary Spanning. • Concept from organizational theorists. • Successful organizations have porous boundaries that incorporate new information. • Boundary spanners are people who link their organization to the external environment.

Systems thinkers Abstract thinkers. High Tolerance for Ambiguity. Negotiate goals with outsiders. Meaning-Makers Stimulate reflection, assessment, & creativity. Leadership Must have authority to implement their ideas. Speak multiple “languages”. Qualities of Effective Boundary Spanners.

Changing the Environment: What We Planned to Do… • A training directed to teachers and other school personnel to create a school environment that is receptive to newcomers. • Beyond Diversity/ Courageous Conversations by Pacific Education Group • “consider the implications of racism, exclusion, and prejudice” on students by focusing on personal self-awareness.” • Personal views of power, privilege, and the impact on school climate.

What Actually Happened... • Riding around with the school resource officer. • Having meetings in Spanish with key staff members listening through simultaneous translation. • Helping a new ESL teacher know how to respond to charges of “racism.” • Telling teachers youth stories when youth can’t tell their own. • Change in school leadership.

Thank You! Questions and Comments?

Creating Confianza : Addressing Stigma through Trust and Access