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.

A second gathering held in November the following year in 2018 drew closer to 200 attendees at DePaul University in Chicago. This most recent gathering was thus entitled, “Chicago Communities and Universities United:  A Convening on Immigrant Mental Health” and included keynote and panel speakers who have been directly impacted by immigration policy, poster presentations from community-based researchers, and roundtable discussion to explicitly elicit the perspectives of all attendees. Representatives from at least eight local university institutions and four community-based and advocacy-oriented organizations participated in the planning of these convenings. 

Click here to view the 2018 Community Convening Program. Additional coverage of this event can be found here.

We thank Renato Velarde and Daniel Tye from Lovely Surreal for documenting this event. 

2018 CIMH Community Convening Meeting Video & Photos

Our inaugural conference in 2017 at Loyola University in Chicago garnered close to 120 attendees and was entitled, “Research and Community Based Action: Chicago Universities United in Support of Immigrant Youth and Families with Undocumented Status.” 

Keynote speakers included U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Julie Morita, and Dr. Roberto Gonzales, author of Lives in Limbo, each of whom spoke about the critical importance of supporting mental health among all immigrants.

Click here to view the 2017 conference program and program insert.