CILA’s social work program has developed a new resource, A New Path: My Toolkit for Navigating Life in the United States. This toolkit is intended for unaccompanied youth and is available in English and Spanish.
For many youth, migrating to the United States signifies new opportunities, access to a safe environment, and/or a chance at the “American Dream.” Unfortunately, this pursuit does not come without sacrifices and many challenges. We explored a myriad of topics in this toolkit such as mental health, trauma, abuse, sexual health, building resiliency, self-care, and navigating immigration procedures, just to name a few. During a time of great transition, we hope this toolkit can support and guide youth through some of these challenges, including those unique to newly arrived immigrants.
We have included practical tips, guidance, and information on local and national resources for youth navigating this complicated world as unaccompanied youth. We hope that you will find this toolkit to be a useful resource in your work, and we welcome you to share it with as many youth as you can! Should you have any thoughts about materials that should be added to future editions of the toolkit, we also welcome that feedback. You can reach out to CILA!