The third annual convening of the Coalition for Immigrant Mental Health(CIMH) was a full day in the company of prominent community leaders and scholars. The Coalition Planning Workgroup intentionally sought out a multidisciplinary group of folks to focus on the intersection of practice, policy, and advocacy while trying to support the mental health and wellness of immigrant children and youth. We gathered on November 8, 2019 at the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration (SSA). We are grateful to our sponsors for making this event possible. 

The focus of our 3rd Annual Convening was informed by feedback received from a survey collected at the end of our second convening and in response to the current anti-refugee/immigrant political climate and policy changes affecting immigrant children and youth.  Survey feedback indicated attendees identified a great need to receive up-to-date detailed information and strategies on policy and mental health risks to inform advocacy and practice. Coalition members and media coverage further highlighted the ever-increasing risk of severe and long-term psychological harm on children in undocumented and refugee families.  Hence we decided that the CIMH 2019 Annual Convening would focus on children and youth and the intersection of practice, policy, and advocacy in education, in clinical and nonclinical or community settings, and the impact of this interface on immigrant family functioning. The convening also prioritized providing participants an introduction to mental health and up-to-date information on immigration policy. To facilitate this, the convening was organized into breakout sessions that provided participants with:

1. national and local policy updates and strategies to advocate for equitable policies.

2. strategies to engage trauma-exposed immigrant/refugee children and their families.

3. self-care strategies for providers.

4. strategies to support undocumented/refugee students across the educational trajectory.

5. strategies to access clinical and non-clinical/community resources.

The breakout sessions were delivered by prominent community leaders and scholars in immigrant rights and legal protection (Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights), immigration policy (PASO- West Suburban Action Project, Latino Policy Forum), trauma and resilience of immigrant and refugee youth (RefugeeOne, Illinois Childhood Trauma Coalition’s Committee on Refugee and Immigrant Children and Trauma, Heartland Alliance, Kovler Child Trauma Center; Syrian Community Network), and universities training practitioners and researchers (DePaul University, Erikson Institute,  Northern Illinois University, Northeastern Illinois University; Northwestern University, University of Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Rush University Medical Center). 

We had a wonderful turnout; over 200 joined us for the day, further highlighting the need for the collaborative work of inter-institutional and interdisciplinary groups like our Coalition to provide ongoing training and support. The majority of participants were students, followed by advocates, allies, mental health practitioners, and researchers.  Nineteen universities and colleges, three high schools, and more than thirty community agencies and organizations were represented. Additional coverage of this event can be found here.  If you are interested in being involved and helping us to plan future convenings, please contact us at ourcimh@gmail.com

Click on the following to view the program agenda and speaker bios.