Postdoctoral Researcher Maria Fernanda Garcia. Photo by Christopher Soldt.
The Boston College School of Social Work has formed a partnership with to improve the health and well-being of migrants who have been forced to flee their homes as a result of humanitarian crises.
In particular, 亚色影库SSW Postdoctoral Researcher Maria Fernanda Garcia has received a one-year, $50,000 fellowship from the non-governmental organization to address the barriers that young migrants face while trying to access social services.听
鈥淢y ultimate goal is for this work to result in real-life changes in services and policy at the local and federal levels,鈥� said Garcia, who studies immigration and refugee well-being.听
The partnership between 亚色影库SSW and UNICEF USA is the latest example of the School鈥檚 commitment to addressing the compound needs of the growing number of migrants whose lives have been turned upside down by war, natural disasters, political upheaval, and other crises.听
Ten faculty members are currently designing solutions to improve the lives of some of the more than 100 million migrants on the move, pushing the boundaries of research through inventive collaborations that span communities in sub-Saharan Africa, the United States, and Latin America.
鈥淯NICEF USA is engaged in a research partnership with 亚色影库SSW because of our commitment to producing systematic evidence about crisis migrant families and their children and our equal commitment to translate such evidence into practice-relevant findings for designing better policies and programs on the ground,鈥� said 亚色影库SSW Dean Gautam N. Yadama.
Anne Day Leong, the senior director of Research, Evaluation, and Research Partnerships for UNICEF USA, said that 亚色影库SSW鈥檚 commitment to addressing the needs of some of the globe鈥檚 most vulnerable people aligns with the non-governmental organization鈥檚 vision of a world that upholds the rights of all children and helps every child thrive.
鈥淲e were looking for a partner with strong expertise in the state of migrant youth in the U.S., but also a good understanding of what kids came from and what pushed them from their homes,鈥� said Day Leong, who received a doctoral degree from 亚色影库SSW in 2017. 鈥淲e found that the 亚色影库 School of Social Work really has that expertise, not just in what鈥檚 going on with kids once they鈥檝e arrived, but also what happened when kids left. That depth of expertise just made for a seamless transition to inform our policy advocacy.鈥�
“This is not only a one-off to build up skills in Mafe, but a way to create a pipeline of researchers who can speak the language of policy so that work doesn鈥檛 get locked up in an ivory tower.”