This event was recorded on
May 25, 2023 from 9:00 am-12:00 pm EST
Community health workers and organizational staff can make a substantial difference and positively impact the lives of unaccompanied immigrant children (UIC) and asylum-seeking families. To tend to their particular needs in an effective and ethical way, services must be provided through a trauma-informed perspective, one that takes into consideration their unique experiences: from pre-migration to their day-to-day lives in the US.
With case examples throughout the presentation, this live online webinar will help participants understand the different stages of the migration experience of UIC and asylum-seeking family units, as well as their specific needs (including legal, medical, mental health, and concrete). The webinar will provide a framework to understand and work with trauma in general, and will specifically focus on how intersectoral partnerships specifically designed to work with this population can provide trauma-informed services. An in-depth look at mental health services will be provided.
By the end of the course, participants will:
- Increase their awareness of the experiences and needs of unaccompanied immigrant children (UICs) and asylum-seeking families.
- Learn to identify UICs and asylum-seeking families, and be able to name a minimum of five psychosocial stressors, challenges, and needs, including legal, medical, mental health, and concrete.
- Deepen their knowledge about providing trauma-informed mental health services in general, and practice at least two strategies/interventions tailored to UICs and asylum-seeking families.
NYSED Approved Provider of Continuing Education Contact Hours (CEs)
New York University Silver School of Social Work is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed Social Workers {#SW-0012}. New York University Silver School of Social Work is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors {#MHC-0083}. For Mental Health Practitioners: Please check with your state, if you are not licensed in New York, to determine if these credits will be accepted for licensing renewal.
ASWB/ACE Approved Provider of Continuing Education Contact Hours
This organization (NYU Silver School of Social Work, 1415) is approved as a provider for social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) www.aswb.org through the Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. NYU Silver School of Social Work maintains responsibility for the program. ASWB Approval Period: 11/11/22 – 11/11/25. Social workers should contact their regulatory board to determine course approval for continuing education credits. 55 jurisdictions accept ACE-approved provider CE contact hours. ACE is not an approved Continuing Education provider in the states of New York (though NYU Silver is NYSED CE approved in NYS) and West Virginia, unless the event is outside of West VA. ACE only approves individual courses in New Jersey, though NYU Silver is CSWE-accredited and therefore accepted for licensed NJ professionals.
Instructor
Brenda Punsky, LCSW, LLM, is the Advocacy Director and a senior-level psychotherapist at Terra Firma, a unique mental health-medical-legal partnership (embedded in Montefiore Hospital’s Bronx Health Collective) that provides trauma-informed services specifically tailored to unaccompanied immigrant youth and asylum-seeking families.
Brenda provides trauma-informed individual, family, and group psychotherapy services, and specializes in traumatic stress, complex trauma, attachment, family-systems therapy, and acculturation. Her expertise includes conducting psychological evaluations and writing affidavits in support of patients’ asylum and other immigration cases; and training medical, legal, and mental health professionals on best practices when working with unaccompanied immigrant youth and asylum-seeking families.
Her scholarly publications include Mental Health as the Cornerstone of Effective Medical-Legal Partnerships for Asylum-Seekers: The Terra Firma Model, and Working with Parents and Children Separated at the Border: Examining the Impact of the Zero Tolerance Policy and Beyond. Brenda has also collaborated with the ACLU’s litigation by conducting and drafting psychological evaluations of asylum-seekers stranded at the border under the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) in Matamoros, Mexico.
In addition to her MSW degree from Silver School of Social Work, Brenda holds law degrees from both NYU School of Law, and Universidad Iberoamericana (Mexico), and worked as a human rights attorney for several years before becoming a social worker. Brenda was honored with NYU’s Global Social Work Award for her outstanding international social justice work and studies. She is also a mediator certified by the New York Peace Institute.