The purpose of this article is to identify how family-focused, community-based interventions can be implemented with refugee families in order to enhance their well-being and adaptation to their new communities. Past efforts at delivering these family support interventions using the Prevention and Access Interventions for Families (PAIF) framework to refugee families are reviewed. Through the case study application, recommendations for supporting refugee families are provided.

This article presents a community-based approach that targets family interventions and services through a preventive, family systems ecological framework. A public health approach is used to emphasize the need for a tiered model of family support that builds on the strengths of refugee families while recognizing their specific needs and challenges. The rationale for a family systems ecological perspective is presented to highlight the critical features of effective family support programs for refugee families, followed by a discussion regarding the transitions and adaptation faced by refugee families when entering the United States. Finally, a public-health problem solving model is employed to promote a comprehensive vision for how more effective support can be developed to best serve the mental health needs of refugee families. An integrated case example highlighting the Somali Parent Program, a family-focused intervention, is also provided. (PsycINFO Database Record

Social, emotional, and behavioral health challenges pose significant barriers to students’ academic success, yet teachers report that they do not feel equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to address these challenges in their classrooms. This article presents findings associated with the effectiveness of an innovative school-based behavioral health professional development and consultation model designed to address this need for urban educators. Program evaluation results from school-based team members from five pilot schools over a two-year partnership period indicate that this model is highly used and valued by school staff, as well as perceived by school staff as effective in building the knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy to implement strategies and build systems in schools to address students’ social, emotional, and behavioral health needs. Progress monitoring data suggests that this learning is translating to actual systemic change in schools based on school-based team members’ reports of progress toward goals specific to the behavioral health systems, procedures, and protocols at their schools. The findings highlight the implications for school-based consultants and practitioners based on the promise of this model.