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Report
offers data on impact of immigrant students on U.S. schools
A new report by the Center for Health and
Health Care in Schools provides information on immigration trends, the
mental health, language and cultural needs of immigrant and refugee
children, and highlights the role schools can play in providing
culturally competent care. Among the findings are:
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The settlement patterns of the foreign-born population have
shifted to the west and south, up from 37.7 percent in 1970 to 65.5
percent in
2000.1 Many “new destination communities,” having no recent
experience with immigrant populations, may be unprepared for the
influx of students, who sometimes comprise as much as 50 percent of the
school enrollment.
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Immigrant children—particularly recent immigrants—are less likely
to receive necessary mental health services than their nonimmigrant
peers. A shortage of bilingual/bicultural mental health
professionals, unfamiliarity with United States mental health services, lack of
health insurance, and the stigma associated with treatment may
prevent immigrant families from getting their children the help they
need. This is why a school-based approach seems especially promising.
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The foreign-born population of the U.S. numbered
31.1 million in 2000, which amounts to 11.1 percent of the total
population, an increase of 57 percent over 1990.
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The immigrant population represents every corner
of the world, but the largest numbers, by far, come from Mexico (39
percent
of immigrants). About 23 percent come from Asia and the Pacific Islands, 6
percent
from Central America and the Caribbean, 11 percent from Europe, 5
percent from
South America, 3 percent from Africa, and another 2 percent from Canada, Bermuda
and Cape Verde.
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Racial/ethnic minorities, in the aggregate, are
destined to become the numerical majority in the U.S.
within the next few decades. This dramatic shift in demographics is
being driven by immigration and fertility trends, with the number of
children in immigrant families growing rapidly in nearly every state
across the country.
For a copy of the report, visit the Center's site
here.
The Center for Health and Health Care in
Schools is a nonpartisan policy and program resource center located at
The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health
Services.
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