The Mount Kisco-based nonprofit Neighbors Link Network recently announced it received a $100,000 grant from the Westchester County Department of Social Services to provide cultural proficiency training.
Neighbors Link has trained the staff of the county DSS office in Yonkers and aims to train another 1,100 staff members in the department by 2017, according to the statement announcing the grant.
According to Neighbors Link, the program reflects the increasing cultural diversity in the county and aims to improve outcomes for immigrants by using interactive training to address stereotypes and provide greater cultural understanding for both immigrants and county social services employees.
“When we talk about integration we talk about people taking advantage of the best of the diversity that exists in the community ”“ the best of both groups,” said Carola Bracco, executive director of Neighbors Link. “The idea behind the training is for an interactive training that helps participants understand the ways in which they might be stereotyped and the ways in which we might stereotype each other.”
In its first year, the program has received “overwhelmingly positive feedback” from participants in its in-person, small-group interactive workshops, Bracco said.
“It”™s training people enjoy being a part of. One focus is peer-to-peer learning, where people in small group sessions are sharing experiences and giving each other ideas and tips with a facilitator in the room who will include facts and figures and information about different cultures,” she said. “It has really been pretty phenomenally successful.”
In the second and third years, Neighbors Link will provide follow-up training on immigration issues with a newly developed online course, the nonprofit said.
In addition to Neighbors Link, partners in the program include Northern Westchester Hospital, Hispanic Resource Center of Larchmont and Mamaroneck, and Understanding Immigration, an educational consulting firm headed by Katherine Fennelly, a senior fellow with the Immigration Policy Center in Washington, D.C.
“The Department of Social Services is committed to providing culturally relevant services to all our customers regardless of their ethnic or linguistic backgrounds,” said Kevin M. McGuire, commissioner of DSS. “We are confident that Neighbors Link has the experience and expertise to raise our awareness and effectiveness in this area.”
