Breaking Down Barriers: Immigrant Families and Early Childhood Education in NYC (2008)
Early education programs that meet the needs of immigrant children are essential to the stability of the entire immigrant family. But it is not enough that these programs merely exist; the quality of these programs must be culturally competent to address the diversity, and those most at risk, within the immigrant population. In New York City, immigrant families are being denied the opportunity to participate in early childhood education programs due to high costs, parents’ limited knowledge of options, and an inability to navigate the complicated maze of patchwork style services that currently overwhelm New York City’s child care system.
According to the 2000 Census, 36 percent of New York City’s population of 8 million is foreign-born. The most populous 15 immigrant groups in New York City come from the Dominican Republic, China, Jamaica, Guyana, Mexico, Ecuador, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia, Russia, Italy, Korea, Ukraine, India, and Poland. In New York City, more than one out of two (54 percent) young New Yorkers live in immigrant families.
Given that the immigrant population is increasing in New York City, there is a disparity between the availability of adequate systems of care and the growing child care needs of this diverse population. A large portion of the immigrant community is being left out of essential systems of child care due to the inability of service providers to connect effectively with these children and families. Language barriers, immigrant status, general distrust of the government, and cultural stigma further undermine efficient delivery of services.
With increased funding, targeted outreach to immigrant communities, coordinated services, appropriate translation services, and improved parent engagement, New York City’s immigrant children and families can begin to eliminate the barriers to accessing quality early childhood education, helping to secure a more successful future.
This policy brief:
Identifies the strengths and challenges confronting immigrant families trying to access early childhood education.
Promotes an understanding of the effective policies and practices that encourage immigrant families to participate in early childhood education programs.
Increases knowledge of immigrant parents’ perspectives, preferences, and expectations of early childhood education programs and experiences.
Finally, this policy brief provides the following five recommendations to improve the capacity and collaboration of early childhood education and immigrant service providers to support inclusive programs for immigrant families.
Language and Culture: Improve language assistance services and increase cultural competency of child care program staff.
Outreach: Increase language accessible communication with immigrant communities throughout New York City, making them aware of available child care programs and services.
Professional Development: Ensure that child care providers are knowledgeable of and can address the unique needs and challenges facing immigrant communities, families, and children in accessing child care services.
Funding: Increase funding to city agencies and child care networks so that there are enough early childhood education programs and staff to address New York City’s growing immigrant populations.
Data Collection: Conduct an early childhood education needs assessment of New York’s immigrant communities and use these data to improve programs, increase outreach, and implement appropriate language assistance services.
To ensure diverse perspectives from New York City’s largest and fastest growing immigrant groups, the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) focused its research on the following communities: Bangladeshi, Chinese, Dominican, Haitian, Korean, and Russian. CACF conducted preliminary discussions with child care and immigrant advocates, along with researchers, to identify the issues and recommendations stated above. Staff then conducted interviews with directors of community-based child care programs that include family day care networks as well as center-based care. Parents were recruited through community organizations and one religious institution.
