Abstract
This study investigates the needs of newcomer youth in Newfoundland and Labrador, and the services provided to them in the provincial capital, St. John’s, through the lens of service providers. We employ Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model (1999, 2005) as the conceptual framework to explore how various ecological systems interact with one another to influence the development of newcomer youth. Data were drawn from 33 semi-structured interviews with personnel in various immigrant and refugee support agencies, medical and counseling units, municipal recreational offices, and educational programs, as well as ten observations of their programs. Our findings indicate that the current services and programs provide effective support in a number of areas. However, closer collaboration can be established between schools and community organizations, among different service agencies, and involving the business community. Service gaps identified include a lack of transportation to and from school, insufficient academic bridging programs, and no career counseling catering to newcomer students. We argue that service agencies should consider shifting some of their programs to the newcomer youth’s microsystems of school and family, and that the provincial educational authorities need to look into the transportation issue that infringes upon the rights of these students to appropriate school instruction.
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Acknowledgements
The project from which this article drew data was made possible thanks to funding from a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Partnership Development Grant, a Canadian Education and Research Institute for Counselling (CERIC) grant, and a MITACS Accelerate grant, awarded to Dr. Jan Stewart (University of Winnipeg), Dr. Xuemei Li (Memorial University of Newfoundland), and Dr. Tom Ricento (University of Calgary). The authors of this article appreciate the support of the participants on the Newfoundland site, as well as the helpful comments of the anonymous reviewers.
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Li, X., Que, H. & Power, K. Welcome to “the Rock”: Service Providers’ Views on Newcomer Youth Integration in Newfoundland and Labrador. Int. Migration & Integration 18, 1105–1122 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-017-0520-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-017-0520-6