In 2007, a major theme of CAYL Schott Fellowship work was “Race and Racism in Public Policy.” Several Fellows attended a national conference on these topics. The lessons learned and materials used at that New York meeting were the focus of two CAYL Schott Fellowship Alumni meetings in 2007. In addition, Alumni have been strong participants in other Fellowship cohorts focusing on immigrant children and families. A CAYL Schott Alumna co-led the first CAYL Schott Fellowship Study Tour to Puerto Rico in October 2007.

This Immigration Project and Educational Study Tour provided Fellows with the following:

• Focused attention on the unique issues, strengths and challenges of young children who are immigrants/migrants or the offspring of immigrants/migrants in Boston and Massachusetts;
• Hands-on experience with immigrant children/families in BOTH the Greater Boston area and with migrating children and families in San Juan, Puerto Rico as an example of the unique issues, strengths and challenges;
• Policy recommendations which would improve the quality of life for their children;
• Communication strategies to share the lessons learned in the immigrant study and to advance the policies that are articulated.

To view the press release, click here.

To view the Final Report of the Puerto Rico Study Tour, click here.