Description
The overall goal of the Strengthening Intergenerational/Inter-cultural Ties in Immigrant Families (SITIF) Program is to improve the intergenerational relationship of families by increasing parents’ sense of self-efficacy and effective parenting of their children. The populations engaged in the SITIF Program are immigrant parents and/or primary caregivers seeking to improve parenting skills to effectively discipline and nurture their children. The curriculum has been applied to immigrant parents of various ethnic origins, and is currently available in English, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Spanish. This track will focus on the Asian communities.
Cultural and linguistic barriers as well as acculturation stress leave many immigrant parents feeling overwhelmed and stressed by conflicts with their children. Parents often feel helpless and hopeless in terms of their parenting ability while their children often feel “trapped” between two cultures and perceive their parents as unnecessarily strict, unfair, or not understanding of their struggles. Without timely and culturally competent intervention, family ties and parenting relationships are strained and the risk of developing emotional and/or behavioral problems increases for the children.
The three core components of the SITIF Program, each of which has incorporated Asian cultural and parenting values and approaches, are:
- Community Education/ Outreach Workshops: These are one-time workshops (about two hours each) on effective bicultural parenting and family management for education and outreach. This is an important program component in demystifying the stigma associated with the parenting class series offered by the SITIF Program.
- Bicultural Parenting Class Series: This is a 10-week, culturally competent, skill-based, interactive, and manualized parenting and family management curriculum for parents and/or primary caregivers. These once-a-week class sessions last for 2 to 3 hours per week in a group format. Topics include parenting skills to help promote the bicultural identity of immigrant children, manage stress, enhance parent-child understanding, and effectively utilize reinforcement, rule, and consequences in this country.
- Family Support Service Linkage: Case management linkage to linguistically and culturally competent community services is offered as part of the SITIF Program when parents and/or primary caregivers need additional assistance to access mental health and/or other social services to address the biopsychosocial needs of their families.
Staffing requirement
To implement 10 to 15 “Community Education/Outreach Workshops” and conduct four “Bicultural Parenting Class Series” per year with each specific Asian immigrant parent group (i.e. Chinese, Korean, or Vietnamese), the following staffing is suggested:
- 0.50 FTE Parent/Family Specialist: Bachelor’s degree in psychology or related field (Master’s training preferred, but not a requirement). Each Parent /Family Specialist should be bilingual in the same language as immigrant parents (i.e., Chinese, Korean, or Vietnamese). Effective communication skills with public speaking experience is preferred.
- 0.50 FTE Community Organizer: Bachelor degree preferred. They should have a good understanding of local community experiences and familiar with community resources for the target families. Because this person serves as the liaison between the program and the community; s/he should have the ability to network with community stakeholders and members, and recruit them to support and/or participate in the program.
- 0.25 FTE Project Director: Master’s degree in psychology or related field preferred for staff supervision and program management.
- 0.25 FTE Clerical Aide: This staff person will provide administrative and office support to the Program.
For more information on SITIF, please write to roccoassociates@gmail.com.
Who can participate?
Organizations may propose a team of three to five members. Strong preference will be given to AANHPI-serving organizations that can provide a project director (manager or supervisor), as well as bilingual parent/family specialists and community organizers.
Questions to consider before applying for Strengthening Intergenerational/ Inter-cultural Ties in Immigrant Families
- Is your organization engaging, or interested in engaging, immigrant parents and/or primary caregivers to support self-efficacy and effective parenting?
- Do you have staff hired from the bilingual and bicultural members of specific Asian immigrant communities?
- Do you have staff with a good understanding of local community experiences and familiar with community resources for the families expected to participate in the program?
- Does your organization have, or have access to, “natural congregation” places for the immigrant parents and/or primary caregivers?
- Do you have the ability to partner with respected community leaders and members to support the outreach and engagement efforts of this Program?
Are you ready to implement the SITIF program?
Prior to filling out the application, please review the Implementation Readiness Checklist (pdf) to learn more about what is required to implement this program.
What is required of participants?
Recognizing that it takes more than a 2½ day training to implement new programs, SAMHSA requests that participating teams commit to the full NNEDLearn 2018 training model which includes: Prepare; Learn; Implement; and Sustain. Read more about NNEDLearn 2020.
Objectives and expectations for each NNEDLearn stage for SITIF are as follows:
Prepare
The first stage of NNEDLearn involves preparing the NNED member team for the Learn stage (on-site training), and requires that team members:
- Participate in two pre-meeting webinars (dates below).
- Complete assignments as requested by trainer, such as a readiness checklist and pre-meeting training content material.
Learn
From March 8 – 11, 2020, teams will attend a 2½ day training at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya in Santa Ana Pueblo, NM. Participants will learn:
- Basic principles in engaging community members
- Basic challenges confronted immigrant families
- The principles of ten sessions SITIF curriculum
- Basic facilitation skills required to implement the SITIF program
Implement
After the Learn stage (on-site training), all SITIF teams will receive ongoing coaching to help support uptake of the practice. Team members will:
- Participate in four 1- hour group coaching sessions with the trainer (2020 Dates TBD).
- Participate regularly in the online discussion forum.
- Complete implementation reporting assignments.
Sustain
NNEDLearn teams are expected to pursue efforts to sustain the practice and to demonstrate outcome and impact as appropriate. Teams will have the opportunity to:
- Provide input on training outcomes and the impact of NNEDLearn 2020.
Trainer
C. Rocco Cheng, Ph.D., President, Rocco Cheng and Associates
Important Dates
- Prepare Webinar One: (choose one only) 2020 Dates TBD
- Prepare Webinar Two: 2020 Dates TBD
- Learn Stage (On-site Training): March 8 – 11, 2020 (Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico)
- Implement Coaching Sessions: Four 1-hour coaching sessions (2020 Dates TBD)
NOTE: Information for all webinars and coaching sessions will be posted on the Discussion Forum. Selected participants will gain access to the Discussion Forum upon acceptance.
Contact
Email NNEDLearn@nnedlearn.net for any questions related to NNEDLearn 2020.