New American and Community Trust and Engagement (NACTE) Project
CVE Grant Program Goal 1: Build and Foster Community Resilience to Violent Extremist Recruitment and Radicalization
Focus Area 1: Developing Resilience Submitted to: Office for Community Partnerships U.S. Department of Homeland Security Washington, D.C. 20528
Submitted by:
Cynthia Shabb, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Global Friends Coalition Grand Forks, ND 58201
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Global Friends Coalition (GFC) proposes a comprehensive plan to build resilience in
Grand Forks (GF), North Dakota and East Grand Forks (EGF), Minnesota. This plan involves two paths: engaging and empowering New Americans in their new community and reducing social exclusion through outreach efforts directed at the broader population of the area.
The New American and Community Trust and Engagement Project addresses both youth and adults. Youth would be matched with volunteer mentors, participate in field trips and enroll in youth activities to connect to their peers, and attend a civic engagement day camp. Adults would participate in a series of classes, from civic orientation a year after their arrival to citizenship preparation as they approach their eligibility date. They would also connect with city and state level representatives, as well as receive advisory support, leadership training, and office space as they build capacity in their own community organizations.
As social exclusion is identified as a risk factor for violent extremism, we also propose a series of outreach activities to better inform the broader community about New Americans. These activities include a series of community events, including large group events such as speakers and panel discussions to better inform the public, and smaller relationship-building events such as a community picnic, Communi-Teas socials, and soccer games to allow for more personal interaction between New Americans and long-term residents.
GFC is requesting $324,982 to implement this program, including $112,089 for New
American Youth Engagement programming, $105,631 for New American Adult Engagement programming, and $107,262 for programming for the broader community.
Over the two years of the grant, our program would serve 200 separate New Americans, including 130 youth and 70 adults, as well as five immigrant organizations. In addition, the outreach efforts would reach approximately 800 separate residents.
GFC has successfully implemented some elements of the proposed programs previously, and has close, positive working relationships with the many community organizations needed to successfully implement the plan. The expansion of these programs with innovative new elements under a cohesive mission to build resilience through increasing civic engagement and reducing social exclusion will set up Grand Forks to be a model community in the civic empowerment of New Americans.
TECHNICAL MERIT
Global Friends Coalition proposes the New American and Community Trust and
Engagement Project (NACTE) to build community resilience against violent extremism for the Grand Forks, ND and East Grand Forks, MN area. We aim to accomplish this goal through the following objectives:
1. Development of New American Youth Engagement Programs 2. Development of New American Adult Engagement Programs 3. Expanded Opportunities for Education and Interaction in Broader Community
This approach allows us to teach New Americans about their community and give them the tools and opportunities to be engaged, while also reducing barriers to their involvement by increasing awareness amongst the broader public and opportunities for individuals to interact. The result is a more engaged, connected community less likely to experience violent extremism.
New American & Community Trust & Engagement Project
Broader
New Americans
Community
Interaction: "CommuniTeas" small group
- Youth
- Adults
Education: "Let's Talk" large group discussions,
- series
- picnics,
soccer games
Civics
Civic
Engagement Camp
Resilient Youth Mentoring
Activities Program
Orientation/ Citizenship Training
Support for Organizations
Civic Forums
Figure 1. Overview of NACTE programming
OBJECTIVE 1: Development of New American Youth Engagement Programs
Grand Forks and East Grand Forks Public Schools currently serve over 400 English
Language Learner (ELL) students speaking 35 different languages. The largest groups are from Bhutan, Somalia, and the Middle East. In addition to the issues all adolescents struggle with, New Americans face additional challenges for their sense of identity, language struggles, family structure, and financial well-being. As a result, ELL teachers report to us academic struggles, substance abuse, pregnancies, and general disengagement among some of their students. The GFC Resilient Youth Mentoring (RYM) Program has been matching a young adult mentor, including Occupational Therapy students from the University Dakota, with the most vulnerable middle and high school students for the past four years, without the resources to meet the challenges.
These mentors tutor the students in their schools two to three hours per week, and in some cases provide additional support in the home. Youth in the program also participate in three field trips per year with their mentors for both recreation and education, including touring area colleges. The RYM program, through a strong partnership with GF Public Schools, serves approximately 15 students per year. Priority for mentors is given to students identified by their teachers to be most at-risk academically and personally. Both middle and high school teachers have requested many more mentors, and the waiting list is long. We would like to expand this program to reach more students and also to introduce a significant service-learning element which will help New American youth have a greater sense of efficacy in their new community.
Part of a sense of connection for youth is participating in activities with their long-term resident peers. Currently, we have been able to provide financial support for 80 students per year to participate in soccer clubs, art camps, acting workshops, and swimming lessons. These activities have been instrumental in opening up new worlds to students, and helping them to connect with peers. In fact, this summer a fifth-grade Bhutanese girl who pulled her drowning friend out of an apartment swimming pool attributed her knowledge to the swim class she had participated in through GFC. With over 400 ELL students in the community, the needs are far beyond our small budget.
To further connect and empower students, youth will also have a chance to enroll in a new civic engagement summer day camp. These classes will be offered at different levels (Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12), all working to introduce students to their community and local government, volunteer with local organizations, carry out a civic project, develop leadership skills, set goals, and connect them with opportunities for involvement in school organizations and government for the upcoming year. OBJECTIVE 2: Development of New American Adult Engagement Programs
Adult New Americans face significant challenges to become successful, connected members of their communities. When refugees are resettled, they are provided with a basic orientation. However, their acculturation needs to understand their rights and responsibilities and to develop a sense of connectedness and efficacy in their new community go far beyond.
NACTE adult programs will begin within New Americans’ first year in the country and
continue through citizenship and beyond. Initially, New Americans will participate in a Civics Orientation. The class will meet for 8 weeks and introduce New Americans to city agencies, connect them with local government officials, and allow them to tour City Hall. This class was offered in 2011 and 2012 through a model designed by the National League of Cities, but was discontinued due to lack of funding. Reviving this course and making it part of an extended, sequenced curriculum would allow New Americans to engage with their community earlier and more fully. The next stage of civic programming for adults involves greater connection to local government. Our staff will coordinate a series of civic forums to allow New Americans to learn about issues affecting them and share their input with local and state representatives.
Years into their residence in the U.S., New Americans can participate in citizenship courses to help them prepare for their exam. Volunteers have been providing these classes through GFC for the past two years, with around 17 people successfully reaching citizenship. In fact, some students have even continued with the class after passing their exam because the courses have been so engaging. We propose an expansion of these courses to serve more people.
We also propose a new element for which we have seen a significant need. Once New
Americans have been in the community a few years, they have begun to form organizations of their own, including the Bhutanese Society of GF, Somali Community of GF, New American Youth Development of GF, the Liberian Community, and United African Community. These groups are critical to allow them to organize events, connect with newcomers, and have a greater voice in the community. However, they often struggle due to lack of support. Many seek out GFC for assistance, including sorting out logistics of event planning, seeking nonprofit status, writing grants, and providing office space. Unfortunately, we do not have the means to provide much assistance beyond basic advice, and the groups sometimes flounder. Through NACTE, we propose to provide these organizations with advisory support, leadership training, nonprofit guidance, office space, and shared venue space under the GFC umbrella. OBJECTIVE 3: Expanded Opportunities for Education and Interaction in Broader Community
In addition to our civic engagement and empowerment programs for New Americans, we propose an outreach program to provide opportunities for long-term residents to better understand their new neighbors and connect with them. According to the newest census data, 88% of North Dakotans identify as White making it the 6th least diverse in the nation.1 While
North Dakotans are ranked the top state in Extraversion in Peter Rentfrow’s research on the
geography of personality, they also rank last in Openness.2 This lack of exposure to diversity and high degree of reticence to accept new ideas and new people poses real challenges for New Americans attempting to make a home here. The uptick in anti-Islamic and anti-immigrant sentiment nationally has been evident here, as well. This was made clear to us in December 2015, when an explosive device was thrown into a Somali-owned restaurant one winter night. The assailant is facing federal charges, and the family has been unable to reopen a restaurant.
Significantly, increasing diversity like that being experienced in GF, has been shown by
Robert Putnam to prompt not only distrust of other groups, but more holistic social isolation. People in more diverse communities exhibit less confidence in local government, lower political efficacy, and less community involvement. They trust their neighbors less, even when those neighbors belong to the same ethnic group.3 A report by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism also identified social exclusion as an important risk factor for violent extremism.4
Four years ago the City of GF’s Immigrant Integration Initiative launched a “Let’s Talk”
series of two large public events at a local theater. Two to three hundred residents gathered to
watch and discuss “Welcome to Shelbyville,” a film on another town experiencing an increase in
New Americans, and at the second event, to ask questions of a panel of New Americans and service providers.5 Both events attracted large crowds and allowed residents to share their concerns, get questions answered, and hear voices they might not otherwise hear. With the increase in negativity, division, and even violence nationally and locally, we see a clear need to revive and expand these events. We propose four additional large events similar to those
1 U.S. Census Bureau. (2015). Population estimates. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/38035. 2 Rentfrow, P.J., Gosling, S.D., & Potter, J (2008). A theory of the emergence, persistence, and expression of geographic variation in psychological characteristics. Perspectives on Psychological Science. vol. 3 no. 5339-369 3 Putnam, R. D. (2007), E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty-first Century, The 2006 Johan Skytte Prize Lecture. Scandinavian Political Studies, 30: 137-174. Doi:10.1111/j.1467.2007176.x.
4 Weine, S, and Ahmed, O (2012). “Building Resilience to Violent Extremism Among Somali‐Americans in Minneapolis‐St. Paul,” Final Report to Human Factors/Behavioral Sciences Division, Science and Technology
Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. College Park, MD: START, 2012.
5 Snyder, K.A. (2016) “Welcome to Shelbyville.” Available on PBS website at
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/welcome-to-shelbyville/ (Accessed 8/28/2016)
previously offered, and also a series of smaller events which would allow community members to interact. The large events would feature a speaker on Somali culture from the Center for Somalia History Studies in the Minneapolis metropolitan area, which has the largest population of Somalis outside Somalia, cultures of other immigrant/refugee populations, the resettlement process, or other topics that may arise. Our previous community forums, as well as talk radio, emails from the public, local news coverage, etc., have shown a significant amount of misinformation in the larger community about such matters.
Building relationships between all residents is a cornerstone of a healthy community. An environment in which all feel connected is less likely to cultivate potential violent extremists. As such, NACTE proposes to organize an annual community picnic, soccer games between the Police Department and immigrant teams, and other social activities. Smaller “Communi-Teas” would follow, placing a broad range of local residents around tables to share a drink and connect as individuals. As social exclusion is identified as a risk factor for violent extremism by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism,6 these proposed events would reduce a sense of isolation felt by both New Americans and long-term residents.
Over the two years of the grant, we anticipate serving 50 youth with our RYM program, enabling participation of 200 youth into school and community activities, and providing a Civic Engagement Day Camp experience for 60. Our Civic Orientation class would serve 40 adults and the Citizenship class will enroll 30. We will also provide technical support and office space
for up to three ethnic community organizations. Our large “Let’s Talk” outreach events will host
300 community members, with another 400 participating in the relationship-building activities.
These programs would be carried out through a broad, robust collaboration with GF
Public Schools, EGF Public Schools, the GF Housing Authority, the Immigrant Integration Initiative of the City of GF, the GF Police Department, the Islamic Center, Lutheran Social Services New Americans, the United African Community, the Bhutanese Society of GF, the Somali Community Organization and the New American Youth Development of Grand Forks. GFC already works closely with these organizations and institutions.
Together, this programming will build resilience among New Americans and the broader community by increasing civic efficacy and reducing barriers posed by bias and discrimination.
6 Weine, S, and Ahmed, O (2012). “Building Resilience.”
NEEDS ANALYSIS
The city of Grand Forks, North Dakota is one of many U.S. cities grappling with the issue of diversity in an era of violent extremism. GF is one of 200 communities nationwide that provides resettlement services for refugees, with a five-year average annual intake of 109 refugees from countries including Bhutan, Somalia, Iraq, Burundi, Liberia, and Sudan.7 In addition, an unmeasurable but growing number of secondary migrants from other states, especially the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro in Minnesota, have been drawn to the area in part to low unemployment rates. With GF and EGF’s populations being over 90% white and minority populations increasing, there is growing anxiety, lack of understanding, and increasing tensions, all exacerbated by the fear of violent extremism acts perpetrated by fringe elements of either long-term residents or immigrant/refugee populations.
To improve community relations and foster improved resources for and civic
involvement of New Americans, the City of GF’s Mayor’s Office and City Council founded the
GF Immigrant Integration Initiative (GFIII) in 2010. The group, composed of a broad group of representatives from local institutions and organizations, holds active membership with the National League of Cities Municipal Action for Immigrant Integration. The GFIII, together with
GFC, organized events such as “Let’s Talk: Immigrants, Refugees, and Grand Forks,” a Civics
Academy, and a Speakers Bureau. The activities of this committee, in collaboration and partnership with GFC and other entities, have led to GF being awarded the 2016 White House task Force on New Americans - Building Welcoming Communities - Campaign Award for its
“dedication and commitment to the principles of the Building Welcoming Communities
Campaign.”8
Although progress is being made in the GF–EGF Metro area through existing efforts by the GFIII, GFC, Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota (LSS-ND) and other local organizations, recent events in the City of GF indicate that more work needs to be done to proactively address the potential for violent extremism acts. In the past year, large crowds gathered for multiple appearances of an anti-Islamic speaker, anti-Somali graffiti appeared on a would-be Somali-owned small business, and a Somali-owned restaurant was fire-bombed. These
7 FAQs. (2015). Retrieved September 01, 2016, from http://www.gfcoalition.org/faqs.html 8 City of Grand Forks, ND. (n.d.). Retrieved September 01, 2016, from http://www.grandforksgov.com/government/city-leadership/committees/gf-immigrant-integration
incidents serve as a reminder of challenges that still exist and the magnitude of the task that lies ahead for the community.9 It is in the context of the aforementioned challenges in the GF–EGF Metro area that the GFC, together with its partners, proposes the New American and Community Trust and Engagement (NACTE) Project in response to the Department of Homeland Security’s FY 2016 Countering Violent Extremism grant program. NACTE programming is informed by best practices research in community inclusion and terrorism prevention.
The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism
(START) identifies key risk factors for extremism among Somali-Americans (2012).10 These
fall under the areas of Youth’s Unaccountable Times and Unobserved Spaces, Perceived Social
Legitimacy of Violent Extremism, and the Presence of Recruiters or Associates. In GF, we see risk factors within the first two areas.
The lack of opportunities and support for youth, two risk factors identified by START, is often reported to GFC by public school teachers, service providers, and leaders of both the
Somali and Bhutanese communities. As documented by Bridging Refugee Youth and Children’s
Services (BRYCS), in addition to the standard adolescent challenges, New American youth face challenges of language, social identity, lack of parental knowledge/support, unfamiliarity with the American school structure, and often poverty.11 As a result, local ethnic community leaders and public school English Language Learner teachers observe disengagement from school, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, and dropping out. Just this month, a Bhutanese high school student was killed in an alcohol-related car accident.
Participation in youth activities is limited by fees, lack of awareness of opportunities, and lack of transportation. New American youth often go directly home after school on the bus, assume family responsibilities, or go to work. This limits their ability to fully engage with their long-term resident peers and become integrated members of their new community. The lack of involvement can also lead to social exclusion, identified by START as another risk factor for
9 Samuels, R. (2015, December 29). Trump's Effect on Muslim Migrant Debate Reverberates in Heartland. Washington Post. Retrieved September 1, 2016, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-effect-on- muslim-migrant-debate-reverberates-in-heartland/2015/12/29/0fd05b4a-a818-11e5-bff5-905b92f5f94b_story.html.
10 Weine, S, and Ahmed, O (2012). “Building Resilience .” 11 Bridging Refugee Youth and Children’s Services (2016). Schools. Retrieved August 24, 2016, from
http://www.brycs.org/schools.cfm.
violent extremism. When New Americans and long-term residents have little interaction, distrust and animosity can grow within either population.12
Our community’s most vivid reminder of that threat came in December 2016 when a local resident threw an explosive device into the window of a Somali-run restaurant one night. In the gatherings and discussions afterward, many immigrants and Muslims reported a deep sense of exclusion and fear in a community we want them to consider home. Beyond the newsmaking incidents such as the graffiti and firebombing, New Americans have faced day-to-day discrimination such as verbal attacks and lack of accommodations for religious attire, as documented in a recent report from the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.13 And 2010 Knight Foundation report found that only 15% of local residents considered the community as open to immigrants.14 Clearly, this community has serious work to do to enable all its residents to feel valued, safe, and connected.
NACTE is designed to strengthen numerous protective resources identified by START to offset risk factors for extremism. Our Resilient Youth Mentoring Program provides “Access to Services and Helpers” as well as “Mentoring of Youth.” This program, along with our Youth Activities Program, establish “Support for Youth Community Services” and “Support for Youth
