Project SHIFA

Strategies for Success

Project SHIFA has had great success in engaging and working with refugee youth and families. We attribute these successes to the following strategies:

The School Setting: The program is located within the school where children spend a majority of their days. Education is extremely important to manySomali parents. By providing services that help their children to succeed in school we are directly addressing this value. Also, as a regular presence in the school, our clinicians are often able to form trusting relationships with teachers and school administrators. 

Multicultural Team: One of the biggest challenges when serving refugee children is overcoming language and cultural differences. We have addressed this challenge by forming a multi-cultural team that includes cultural brokers, Somali and non-Somali clinicians, Somali and non-Somali community leaders, researchers, and a parent advisory board.

Community Engagement: We began our project by forming partnerships within the community. In this process we learned more about the needs and concerns of Somali parents and provided them with education about mental health. Through the consistency and accountability of our team members, and our partnership with the Refugee and Immigrant Assistance Center we have been able to establish trust within the community and to reduce the stigma of mental health. 

Family Engagement: While we have found that community engagement is critical to our understanding of the needs and concerns of Somali families, we have found that family engagement is what makes our services successful. We engage the family by addressing the family's needs not just the individuals. Through consistency, availability, and dependability, our team is able to build trust and be valuable to both the family and the child.

Home-based Family Support: When working with individuals from other cultures it is necessary to design programs that are in keeping with the core beliefs and values of individuals from that culture. For the Somalis with whom we work, the family and the cohesiveness of the family unit take precedence over any one individual. The provision of home-based family support through a collaboration between our cultural brokers and The Home for Little Wanderers allows the team to address this very important cultural value. 

School-based Groups: We have found that the incorporation of acculturation and social groups has been essential to the success of this program. All Somali children in the "English Language Learners" program at the school are invited to participate in the groups. This allows clinicians to interact with the children in a non-stigmatizing way. Through the groups the clinicians are able to continue to build trust with both the children and their families. We have found that a foundation of trust is an important factor in families' decisions to allow their children to take part in individual therapy when necessary.

Direct Intervention: The adaptation of Trauma Systems Therapy gives our program the flexibility to address the intersection of the child's social environment and his or her psychological needs. We have found addressing stressors within the environment (home, school, community) to be a critical part of our interventions with youth.