JFS of Western New York empowers people to achieve their unique aspirations by offering culturally responsive and individualized care.
JFS of Western New York will be the first choice for the communities we serve and for the services we provide.
VALUES
Be a Mensch - A person who is ethical, decent, and admirable.
Be Person-Centered - Meeting individuals where they are at.
Be Culturally Responsive - Creating purposebuilt spaces and programs for our clients that respect their culture.
Be Resolute - Tenacity, solution-seeking, and getting stuff done.
REFLECTIONS from Jill
Gavin Associate Director of Refugee Programs
I still remember reading the posting for the role of Parenting Coordinator in 2019 The words “improve children's well-being,” “parental support education,” and “refugee & immigrant populations” leapt off the page Before I knew it, I was in a role I’d thought possible only in my dreams. Nearly 5 years later, to see how far we ’ ve come is truly a dream come true I’ve been brought to tears more times than I can count whenever I’m reminded of the honor, the privilege, and the joy it is to get to help parents do what I consider to be the most important job on the planet
In the following pages you will read about who makes up our team, how we got where we are, and the inspiring work we do in the community We also highlight the tools we use to do this work, including 3 different evidencebased parenting interventions, all of which we ’ ve tailored to meet the unique needs of newcomer communities. And while each of these curricula provide valuable parenting strategies, they are all grounded in the same philosophy, put best by Dr Gabor Maté: “Parenting is not about techniques Parenting is about a relationship.”
Building this program has been a labor of love, both by the community and for the community. I am proud, everyday, to sing the praises of our “8 moms from 8 different countries” who’ve helped make this program what it is, and who so naturally create spaces that help our New American neighbors feel a little more at home in our strange new land.
None of this would have been possible without funding from the NYS Office of Children and Family Services, whose long-term grant making has allowed us to build out programming over time, supplemented by additional dollars from United Way of Buffalo and Erie County, Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, CARRE, and Buffalo Toronto Public Media
Most importantly, thank you to the parents, for letting us into your lives into your families — and allowing us to help you raise a new generation of loving and connected individuals, who will undoubtedly go on to shape the future of our world You are the change we so desperately need.
First IY parent group facilitated by a Community Liaison, in Tigrinya
Two additional IY training sessions held for community leaders
2 more Community Liaisons join team
New 5-year OCFS grant
Change in leadership Pivot to virtual groups in response to COVID 1st Community Liaison trained in Incredible Years (IY)
2020-2021
Team grows to 4 Community Liaisons 1st in-person parent groups since COVID
Team doubles in size to 8 Community Liaisons
Community WhatsApp groups established
Home Visiting outreach program begins School readiness week with BTPM
6 team members trained in IY, 3 trained in TINT Attachment Vitamins pilot with Afghan community Tuning into Teens pilot in Arabic and Dari First Swahili and Spanish IY groups
IKINYARWANDA
15 languages served and 24+ countries,
I V E F A C T O R S
We work to improve the lives of children and families by increasing Protective Factors for families at greater risk as a result of displacement, trauma, and other life stressors.
Protective Factors are conditions that help reduce the effects of trauma.
We offer a range of programs to promote the 5 Protective Factors:
Knowledge of Parenting
Parents understand effective, ageappropriate guidance. 5 P R O T E
Social Supports
Parents have a network of family and friends for emotional support.
Concrete Supports
Parents have access to resources or services in times of need.
Nurturing & Attachment
As a result of proper care, a healthy bond forms between parent and child.
Parental Resiliency
Parents can employ coping mechanisms to combat stressors.
Protective Factors Growth
Parent Group Demographics
language
I wish I had this program before I had my kids.
Our Family Support Team
Our Community Liaison model was launched in 2020 and is the foundation of our success The model employs trained immigrant community members who lead our work in the community, ensuring our programs are culturally responsive and tailored to the needs of the various cultural and language groups we serve.
Our model has grown to include 8 women from 8 different countries who, amongst them all, speak fifteen different languages.
We strive to reflect the diversity of the families we serve. Some from our team have a masters degree, others had to stop at 6th grade; some are young mothers, others have grandkids!
Each of the women have participated in the programs they lead, first as a participant, and next as an interpreter Only then, after formal training by the curricula designers, do they begin leading their own groups.
JFSWNY has offered The Incredible Years® Parent Program since 2014, with a focus on parents of children ages 3-12.
The Incredible Years® parenting programs are designed to enhance parenting skills and confidence while encouraging parental engagement in their children's school lives.
98%
Encourages respectful limit setting and positive discipline of parents surveyed agreed that the program helped them learn more about their child’s development and improve their parenting skills.
Evidence-based programs delivered to groups of parents/caregivers according to child’s age
Strengthens positive parentchild interactions and attachment
Promotes social-emotional learning, academic skills, and positive behavioral outcomes
I’m a mother of seven, and this is the first certificate I ever got in my life!
PILOT PROGRAMS
In 2023 we partnered with the JFSWNY Refugee and Immigrant Center for Healing (RICH) to pilot additional evidence-based parenting curricula, expanding our services to support families of children from 0 to 18 years old.
ing into Teens (TINT) teaches ents & caregivers emotion dolescents ages 10-18. Focused specifically on the developmental needs of teenagers, it is shown to improve parent-teen relationships and adolescent mental health.
Following successful completion of a Tuning into Teens pilot together with our RICH staff in Fall 2023, in Spring of 2024 the Family Support Team ran our first TINT community group with 10 Arabic speaking mothers, followed by a Dari group with 11 mothers that began in July 2024.
a way of responding to emotions that nderstand, regulate, and work through they can manage their behavior.
-- John Gottman
“I realized that the more I push my daughter, the more I push her away. ”
“My daughter never used to let me hug or kiss her Now she hugs me, kisses me. She says Mom, I love you, I love you too much”
Attachment Vitamins
Attachment Vitamins is a 10-week intervention to help parents and caregivers of children aged birth-5 years learn about the impact of stress and trauma on a child’s development and promote secure attachment. It is based on the principles of Child-Parent Psychotherapy, a relationship-based treatment for young children exposed to trauma.
In Summer of 2023 we partnered with the JFS RICH team and the The International Rescue Committee’s Center for Adjustment Resilience and Recovery (CARRE) to pilot the Attachment Vitamins curriculum with 10 Afghan parents, including 8 mothers and 2 fathers.
The program:
Educates about emotional development during infancy, toddlerhood, and preschool
Helps parents observe, reflect and respond to challenging child behaviors in a supportive way
Emphasizes mindful awareness of parent’s inner states and how these states influence their frame of mind and behavior Provides parents with relaxation techniques for stress management
“It was wonderful to see the women in the group take a deep look into their own lives to impact the future lives of their children, and also use aspects of the Afghan culture to enhance their parenting practices.”
La-Verne Blades, RICH co-facilitator
Parent Feedback Statistics
Of 205 participants surveyed since 2019: agreed that our programshelped them with stress. agreed that our programs helped them connect with other people agreed that our programs helped them reach their personal and family goals. agreed that our programs helped them make their home f f h i
agreed that our programs increased their knowledge of where to go when they need something
“Last month there were so many positive changes in my son, things I never expected to see. ”
HOME
VISITS OUTREACH EFFORTS
We visit New American families in their homes to help orient them on their rights and responsibilities as caregivers in the US, and to connect them with our program services. We use the “Raising Children in a New Country” handbook from BRYCS to guide the conversations on what to expect as a parent in the US.
VIRTUAL COMMUNITY BUILDING
We engage more than 250 individuals across 7 WhatsApp groups, which run in the following languages: Arabic, Burmese, Dari, Rohingya, Spanish, Swahili, and Tigrinya.
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
We are proud members of The Refugee Partnership (TRP), with whom we collaborate for referrals. We also work with the Department of Social Services for mandated court referrals.
We partner with RAHAMA (Resources Resources And Help Against Marital Abuse) to provide parenting skill building for survivors of domestic violence. We host parent groups at various locations around town, most often at West Side Community Services.
Parent leaders are current and former group participants who support the program in a variety of ways, such as volunteering in the playroom, providing food for groups, and offering rides when needed.
Community Engagement
In June of 2022, we received $20,000 from The Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. In addition to helping us to grow our team, this grant allowed us to provide welcome bags full of toys and activities to 100 newly arrived refugee families over the course of the next year From this grew our Home Visiting Outreach program, through which we now provide a home visit for every newly arrived refugee family resettled by JFSWNY.
14
home visits provided in 2022
130
home visits provided in 2023
150+
home visits to be provided in 2024
More than half of the families we visited expressed interest in joining our parent groups and were added to our waitlist.
In Summer of 2023, we were invited to partner with Buffalo Toronto Public Media to host a 4-day school readiness event for parents of kindergartners. “Building Blocks for Learning,” held at Buffalo Public School #45, welcomed 25 families, with JFS Community Liaisons providing interpretation in 4 languages: Arabic, Burmese, Dari, and Swahili. Facilitation partners included Journey’s End Refugee Services, Say Yes Buffalo, and Jericho Road Community Health Center. One of the highlights of the event was getting to help get PBS materials translated into the languages of our program participants!
