There are 1.7 million orphans in Egypt, and the Egyptian foster care sector is largely a non-governmental relying on private support with minimal government supervision. The transition from living at home to living in foster care is difficult for anyone at this age. Psychological distress is one of the health problems faced by foster youth. Social agencies have no more power than the legal rights to offer support to these youths. Therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between psychological distresses and social support provided to the adolescents in foster care. Subjects and methods: Three tools were utilized to measure the variables of the study: Sociodemographic data, Depression, Anxiety, Stress scale (DASS 42) and Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire (NSSQ). Results revealed that, 58% of subjects were males and more than half of the foster care adolescents came from rural area, poverty and divorce were the major reasons for entering foster care. Concerning level of psychological distress among the foster care adolescents, 77% of adolescents had mild to moderate stress, 60% had mild to moderate depression while more than half of them (54%) suffered from severe to extreme anxiety. As regard social support; more than half of foster care adolescents (52%) received support from their friends and males were more socially supported than females. Conclusion: Broken families (divorces) and poverty were the major reasons for placing children in foster care. Most of foster care adolescents had various levels of psychological distress especially depression and anxiety. Friends represented the main social support source for the foster care adolescents. Adolescents who had not anxiety had higher mean scores of social support than others. There is no a statistically significant differences between social support and psychological distress. Recommendations; Focusing on alternative families from relatives and neighbors, especially to orphans, those who came from broken families, or suffer from some circumstances of illness or economic hardship than foster care. Introduction:

There are significant changes in the education system’s demographics due to the increased immigration into the United States. A growing demographic has unique characteristics and academic needs for educators to recognize. This lack of understanding often causes the misidentification of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students as having special educational needs. The present research examined the factors contributing to the overrepresentation of CLD students receiving special education services in an urban school district in the Midwestern United States. Through a qualitative phenomenological study of six CLD families regarding their perceptions of their children’s evaluation for special education services, three themes emerged: inaccurate screenings, grade retention, and parental lack of awareness of special education services. Based on these findings, this research calls for preparing teachers to provide culturally responsive services, carefully identifying culturally and linguistically diverse students, and educating CLD parents about special education services in their native language.

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The Syrian refugee crisis has put schools worldwide under pressure to meet the unique needs of refugee children, many of whom suffer from undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Using thematic analysis on open-ended interview data, the present case study examined the experience of a Syrian refugee family who recently arrived in the United States and their experiences at two different school districts. An analysis of the findings indicates the need for trauma-informed schools that provide tailored interventions and counseling to help refugee students overcome their traumatic experiences. This study also demonstrates a need for a revision to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s (IDEA) definition of an emotional disturbance to specifically include students who have experienced trauma. The four emerging themes that support these recommendations were positions that aggravate PTSD symptoms, schools’ negligence in accommodating for a new culture, an ineffective academic approach (sink or swim), and social isolation due to lack of acceptance. While this study focused on a Syrian refugee mother and her children, their experiences may advise a planned path for this growing population.

The present phenomenological study examined the engagement experiences of five Muslim Arab parents in their children’s education and uncovered the current stigma against Muslim families, which negatively impacts their engagement in their children’s education. Identifying these needs and satisfying them will improve the educational experience for students of this minority and will ultimately lead to effective engagement with their families. Five emerging themes support this finding: neglecting to accommodate for religious sacraments, unmet hygienic jurisprudence needs, unsatisfied dietary needs, feeling unequal, and failed preparation for academic success. Based on these findings, this research calls for action agendas for reform and change by training school personnel to understand diverse students; adopting anti-bullying policies to counteract stereotyping; allowing students to perform their individual religious duties, which are well within their constitutional rights; and making dietary considerations and personal hygienic accommodations for Muslim children as a matter of social justice before we can even address their families’ engagement.