Empowering Migrant Families Through Education

Immigrant and Refugee Support

San Fernando Valley

Applying a proven model or solution to a new issue or sector (e.g., using a job recruiting software or strategy to match clients to supportive housing sites, applying demonstrated strategies from advocating for college affordability to advocating for housing affordability and homelessness, etc.)

Thousands of migrants arrive in California each year and Los Angeles is one of the top destinations. Migrant families face unimaginable hardship as they navigate unfamiliar systems in new host cities. Without the robust, multigenerational support systems of home, many parents lack critical parenting resources and bear high rates of trauma and stress. Migrating children have lost familiar routines and relationships, spending months in shelters without access to safe play and education opportunities. As 90% of brain development occurs before age 5, it is essential to support migrant children during this critical window. Nurturing educational programs and social support for families during and after immigration can offset the impact of trauma and prepare children and their parents to thrive in their new home. LA can and should become an international leader in supporting migrant family wellbeing.

Nest LA, a partnership with Refugee Children Center, is a free education program for migrant families. Modeled after PILA's international Nest programs, Nest LA is built on a healing-centered pedagogy that prioritizes connection, autonomy, and emotional expression through art to help families strengthen their relationships, build resilience, and experience joy. A Nest LA Parenting Program was successfully piloted this spring. Originally implemented in Tijuana, the program offers parents critical learning and trauma-informed support through 8 weekly 90-minute sessions. The curriculum draws from research on trauma healing, emotional regulation, and nonviolent communication. Qualitative data showed promising benefits in parental-child interactions and parental self-efficacy. Renovations to a dedicated Nest space will be completed this summer, allowing for full-time programing in a calm and engaging child-centered environment. With funding from LA2050, Nest LA will continue to offer its Parenting Program and add a Caregiver & Me program which offers a nurturing space for parents to bond with their young children while sharing their day-to-day struggles with a supportive community. The program will be staffed by trained parent educators who facilitate culturally responsive child development interactions through play and real-time feedback. By empowering parents and encouraging secure attachment, the program promotes healthy child development and family bonding.

PILAglobal's programs for parents and children foster curiosity, flexibility, empathy, and resilience that participants carry with them long after leaving the Nest. Our research partners have found our curricula highly effective in bolstering parent mental health and improving family relationships. We are confident that Nest LA will make a similar lasting positive impact on the city's immigrant community. We plan to apply lessons from our Nest LA model to other contexts in Los Angeles by partnering with community centers across the region to transform spaces, train staff, and develop new programming. We are excited to expand our work to support local families experiencing diverse challenges, as we have done on an international level. We envision a Los Angeles where each neighborhood hosts a Nest to offer families experiencing hardship a safe, supportive, culturally responsive space to learn and play.

PILAglobal has partnered with Stanford pediatrician and researcher Dr. Xinshu She in evaluating our programs. A qualitative study from our Tijuana Nest, presented at a national conference, showed that parents began with high levels of stress and boredom and reported improved parent-child interactions and self-efficacy after only four 1.5-hour long classes. For Nest LA, we will continue to obtain qualitative feedback around participants' needs and experiences. We will collect baseline demographic and socioeconomic data for deeper understanding of how these factors may impact participant experiences. We will track additional measurements from baseline to completion to 3 months post on key outcomes including parental skills, self-efficacy, self-compassion, parent-child interactions, and early childhood development milestones. Success will be measured by self-reported improvement of parental and child health outcomes at program completion.

PILAglobal and Refugee Children Center (RCC) will collaborate on the overall design of Nest LA's programs. PILAglobal will be responsible for classroom materials, curricula design, staff training and ongoing mentorship, and program evaluation. RCC will be responsible for advising on culturally responsive curricula, stewarding the Nest classroom space, recruiting and enrolling participants from the local community, and obtaining feedback from participants. Dr. She, our partner from Stanford University, will assist in designing, implementing and analyzing evaluation and impact reporting tools.