COMMUNITY CONVERSATION SERIES 2025

IECMH Principles to Practice: Lifting Socio-Cultural Context & Expectations

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Session 1: The Border is Here Part 1:  Immigration, Trauma, Separation, and Loss in Early Childhood

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Session 2: The Border is Here Part 2: Interventions for Serving Immigrant Families and Caring for the Workforce

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

Virtual Events

8:30-10:30am  Presentation and Discussion

Guest speakers:  

• Carmen Rosa Noroña, LICSW, MS. Ed., IECMH-E®
• Ivys Fernández-Pastrana, JD

Center for Excellence in Immigrant Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health, Boston Medical Center

REGISTER for Session 1

REGISTER for Session 2 

Please note: Though both sessions are related, participants can register for only one of the session. 

Description:  Anti-immigration rhetoric ideology and nativism have permeated all corners of political and media discourse in the United States, making the socio-political climate the most hostile towards immigrant communities in modern history. The ripple effect of immigration policies and enforcement are multifaceted, multi-generational, and detrimental to the health, well-being, and socio-economic stability of immigrant communities regardless of immigration status.

The purpose of the two sessions is to build the capacity of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health providers to understand and support the unique needs of caring for immigrant families with young children. This series will raise awareness about interlocking systems of oppression affecting both immigrant families and their service providers. It will provide an overview of how young children's well-being is affected by the trauma of family separation, whether threatened or actual, as a result of detention and deportation. It will explore the relationship between providers’ identities and work-related stress, including Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS). The presenters will introduce diversity-informed protective strategies to prevent and mitigate the primary and secondary effects of the work, including diversity-informed reflective practice, Radical Healing approaches, and organizational accountability. Participants will also learn about the  “Family Preparedness Plan,” a developmentally- trauma- and diversity-informed tool, to support and empower immigrant families facing separation concerns.

Registration fee:

- RIAIMH Members:  NO COST with active 2025 membership

- Non-Members:  $40/session

- Undergraduate and Graduate Students:  NO COST with valid student email entered during registration

CEUs:   

- NASW (Social Work) Continuing Education Units : $30/session (small online CC fee applied)

- CELP (Center for Early Learning Professionals) contact hour no cost for participants

IECMH-Competencies toward IECMH-Endorsement® - suggested competencies noted on event participation certificate.   IMH Endorsement® applicants may select other appropriate IMH Competencies® 

With generous support from: