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This trauma-informed blog post provides practical strategies for service providers supporting forcibly displaced clients through program disruptions, emphasizing safety, transparency, collaboration, and respect for clients’ varied backgrounds and experiences. It outlines specific approaches for managing transitions—from preparing clients in advance to ensuring continuity of care—while acknowledging the emotional toll on both clients and staff. This…
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Hosted on May 15th, 2025 the training was delivered by ​​Rob Callus, Training Officer for Community Integration, Switchboard and Teddy Spelman, Program Officer of Tutoring & Instruction, IRC. Refugee and newcomer students are more likely to be bullied and may not understand how to effectively manage these situations, which could lead to further feelings of…
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Hosted on May 14, 2025 the training was delivered by Caroline Dilts, LICSW; Rochelle Frounfelker, ScD; and, Farhad Sharifi, MSW. Conducting research with newcomer populations presents unique challenges for both researchers and service providers—particularly when addressing the risk of harm such as suicide, intimate partner violence (IPV), and mental health crises, especially during stressful events…
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Addressing bullying is a critical component of ensuring a child’s safety and well-being. It is essential to have ongoing discussions with both the child and their caregiver to reinforce awareness, encourage open communication, and provide guidance on how to handle such situations effectively. Below is a structured script designed to facilitate these conversations, helping caseworkers…
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Newcomers face unique risks and vulnerabilities due to their experiences of forced displacement, exposure to potentially traumatic experiences, and the complex stressors of resettlement. Safety planning can be a necessary or helpful intervention to maintain newcomers’ overall safety and wellness. This short guide provides an overview of safety plans and the safety planning process to…
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Service providers play a critical role in identifying, assessing, and managing the risk of suicide. This guide informs service providers about the fundamentals of utilizing safety plans with newcomers experiencing suicidal thinking or risk.  This guide accompanies Switchboard’s editable Suicidal Ideation Safety Plan Template, which can be used when working with clients expressing thoughts about…
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This safety plan template can be used when working with clients expressing thoughts about death or suicide. It is appropriate for clients who are thinking about suicide but have no immediate plan or intent to do so; these clients are able to use coping strategies and their support system to remain safe on their own.…
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Safety planning is essential when supporting clients at risk of family violence, which is used as an umbrella term for domestic violence and intimate partner violence. This guide will explore the fundamentals of using safety plans with newcomers to help them manage these dangers and stay safe. Switchboard’s editable Family Violence Safety Plan Template accompanies…
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This template can be adapted for use when working with clients experiencing or at risk of family violence. Family violence can include both domestic violence (a pattern of abusive behaviors within a household between people such as spouses, partners, family members, or cohabitants) and intimate partner violence (abuse or aggression in a romantic relationship between…
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The purpose of this guide is to provide insights and tools for addressing newcomers’ mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) needs. Implementing these MHPSS tools and best practices can help newcomer service providers— including caseworkers, social workers, qualified mental health professionals, and other community-based service providers—deliver effective MHPSS services and foster resilience among the newcomers they…
