Principal investigators: CERIS Associate Directors
Paul Anisef and Kenise Murphy Kilbride.
Funding provided by the Settlement Directorate of the Ontario
Region of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (OASIS).
This intensive study focussed on the needs of immigrant youth from
the ages 16 to 20, as this group faces particular challenges: those common to most
adolescents, those experienced by newcomers to a country, and, increasingly, those facing
people seen as "visible minorities" in Canada. Four main tools were used
to assess the needs of newcomer youth: a review of the literature on the needs of newcomer
youth and the services provided to meet those needs; in-depth personal interviews with
fifteen key informants among management and program staff in a cross-section of the most
prominent agencies providing educational, employment, mental health, social and health
services to young immigrants; a telephone survey of service providers in these five
sectors; and eighteen focus groups with male and female newcomer youth in the 16 to 20
year age group who reflect gender, ethnicity, cultural and racial diversity, to afford a
sense of the needs, concerns and issues encountered by newcomer youth; and seven focus
groups with immigrant mothers of youth.
An intensive review of the literature proved there is no real
attention being paid to this age group of newcomer youth, but the literature was very
helpful in identifying some of the major issues facing this age group (such as identity
development, language barriers, conflicting values and gender issues). The in-depth
interviews with fifteen key informants provided great insight into the need of this age
group of newcomer youth. Issues linked to education and the programs provided by school
systems (or a lack thereof) to meet the needs of these youths were foremost priorities for
all sources of information. The telephone survey of 145 agencies providing services to
newcomers contributed foundational statistical findings, perhaps best illustrating the
lack of services available to newcomer youth of this age, but providing insight into the
process of providing and implementing good services. The focus group study may have
provided the most insightful findings of the research, as the subjects themselves were
able to explain their needs and issues from a very personal perspective --again, with
education being at the forefront of their concerns.
All four research methods resulted in recommendations, not only in
the five main areas identified by researchers (including education, social services,
employment, health and mental health), but other areas as well (including services that
begin even before immigration to Canada, and, interestingly, racial and cultural
sensitivity training for the media).
The results of this study strongly indicate that the needs of
newcomers aged 16 to 20 are simply not being met. They seem in some kind of integration
limbo: not old enough to be aided by programs for newcomer adults, not young enough for
adjustment to be the gradual, family-mediated process that it can be for much younger
children, nor even young enough to have the time necessary to adjust before graduating
from high school. Schools are essential not only for the education of this age group of
newcomers, but as a critical location for services to help their integration. It is
important, however, that this group be seen not only as individuals in need of attention
but also as members of groups whose differences along ethnic, gender, racial, and class
lines will require sensitive outreach and specific forms of support for them and their
families.
Coordination of youth-oriented research projects funded by
OASIS
During the past year OASIS encouraged collaboration among
various like-oriented research projects they funded, included mandated collaboration
involving seven agencies whose proposals featured some focus on identifying issues, needs
and problems among newcomer youth and the service delivery organizations who assist them.
The Youth Collaboration consists of the Centre for Research and Education in Human
Services, Centre of Excellence in Research in immigration and Settlement (CERIS),
Coalition of Visible Minority Women, Family Services Association of Metropolitan Toronto,
Pinecrest-Queensway Health and Community Services, Council of Agencies Serving South
Asians (CASSA)/South Asian Women's Centre, and World University Service of Canada (WUSC).
The CERIS project was chosen to coordinate the collaborative effort, develop focus group
protocols, include the research results (ideally in the form of draft reports and focus
group summaries) from each particular project into their final report, and organize the
amalgamated report. CERIS involvement in managing the collaboration entailed a reduction
in the number of focus groups they initially had planned for. CERIS responsibility was
to"ensure quality control of the research component", set up a minimum of three
meetings during the year, and be "involved in providing input to the agencies on the
revision to their proposal as it relates to meeting adequate levels of methodological
standards and helping them to expedite their projects" (E-mail correspondence June 9,
1999).
The first youth collaboration meeting on July 7, 1999 brought many
of the participants together to meet one another. The purpose was to establish common
themes across the groups, to discuss how information could be shared an analysed for
comparative assessment, and to discuss features of each proposal and design strategies for
protocol. The next meeting, September 13, 1999 further discussed how to share parts of the
research, such as focus groups and a common questionnaire, and provided a forum to share
information, such as how to access youth through the Toronto Board of Education.
Collaborative difficulties also manifested with several groups expressing concern as to
how to retain the specific focus of their particular project, and comparing one group's
requirements and funding for focus groups with another. Further, different conceptions of
what the research entailed or what was the more appropriate area for emphasis became a
matter of contention. In one instance, the academics (unsuccessfully) tried to force
changes in one project by reducing their particular focus on a specific geographical area
to a specific national group. Comprises and negotiations of who would cover what, and
working out shared definitions of terms and categories utilized by each project were also
demonstrated. Consensus was given, for example, on what is the specific age to focus on
for newcomer youth or what defines "best practices."
The third meeting September 29, 1999, involved considerations of
research ethics and the protocol for focus groups. Participants raised concerns over the
focus group format (length of time), the diversity of areas to be covered, the lack of
specific key issues such as gender, the order of questions, and the role and training of
the facilitator. The broad-ranging discussion clearly indicated the equal participation of
all groups and their willingness to cooperate to make the focus group format amenable.
Another significance in the discussion was the amount of time involved in raising the
issue of research ethics, and the difficulty in creating a consensus between the different
requirement of academics and service providers. Following lunch, the collaboration
participants viewed a sample focus group (at York University's Small Groups Lab) and
discussed their observations throughout the afternoon. Clear distinctions arose as to the
role of the facilitator and the type of information expected from a focus group. The final
meeting of the Youth Collaboration was April 25, during which partnering agencies
discussed their findings both in terms of their individual research and in terms of
settlement services in general. Also developed was the template for each agency to write a
summary report of their research (in the form of a chapter) which will be included in a
CERIS based amalgamated report, and choosing agency representatives to participate in a
panel workshop on youth research at the Fifth International Metropolis Conference in
Vancouver.
