Specialized Childcare for Refugees: 
Holistic Services Support Children and Parents in Germany

• In Event: 3-095 - Variation in implementation of social-emotional programs for refugee children in low-, middle-, and high-income countries

Integrative Statement

INTRODUCTION. Providing a foundation for learning, childcare for refugee children helps to build a sustainable future for societies of conflict-torn nations. The largest German state, North Rhine-Westphalia, has funded a specialized childcare program for refugee children. Bridging Projects (BPs) are intended to be low threshold and adaptable to different settings such as refugee accommodations, childcare centers, parish rooms, or even mobile childcare in a caravan. Beyond preparing refugee children for the transition into formal education settings, BPs also aim to inform refugee families about education and social support services, and to provide childcare in order to allow parents to participate in other activities (e.g. language and integration courses).
STUDY AIMS. This talk provides a data-based overview on specialized childcare programs for recently arrived refugee families. We present data on the emerging challenges in BPs (teacher self-reports), the quality of teacher-child interactions with refugee children, the structural quality of BPs (both structured observations), and the development of pre-school children attending BPs (individual testing).
METHODS. We asked 130 early childcare teachers from BPs about their perceived challenges and classified their responses using qualitative (content-based analysis) and quantitative methods (descriptive analysis, exploratory factor analysis). Additionally, we assessed teacher-child interactions (CLASS Pre-K) and structural quality of BPs for childcare (own observation scale) in 42 different BPs. Finally, we collected data on 150 children (76 female, average age= 66 months) who attended 12 BPs designed to prepare children for the transition into elementary school. For these children, we assessed self-regulation (SDQ, teacher report), receptive language (PPVT IV, German version), cognitive development (WIPPSI, subtest object assembly), and fine motor skills (IDS subtest).
RESULTS. The challenges identified by teachers of the BPs concerned communication problems (e.g. language barriers, miscommunication due to different perceptions and expectations), child behaviors (e.g. fearfulness, hoarding, aggressiveness), interpersonal conflicts (e.g. between children, teachers and parents), flight-related experiences (e.g. post-migration circumstances of living), and structural features of a childcare group (e.g. lack of adequate materials for childcare, public transportation to and from the BP). Teacher-child interactions were consistently in a medium to high quality range. Structural quality for childcare varied across the different settings of BPs. Refugee children showed more emotional and behavior problems, low-level German receptive language skills, and lower levels of cognitive development, yet average levels of fine-motor skills.
CONCLUSION. Developmental outcomes of refugee children and findings on structural quality corresponded to challenges perceived by teachers in the BPs. High quality teacher-child interactions are likely to facilitate teachers’ ability to overcome interpersonal challenges and deal with children’s problem behaviors. Developmental outcomes showed a demand for specialized childcare focusing on the child in order to promote refugee children’s transition into German elementary schools. However, identified challenges also suggested that isolated approaches to fostering child development might disregard complex situations of recently arrived refugee families. Holistic family support also appears to be essential in order to additionally tackle the diverse needs of siblings and parents after immigration.

Authors

• Julian Busch, Ruhr University Bochum
  Presenting Author

• Thimo Buchmüller, Ruhr University Bochum
  Non-Presenting Author

• Birgit Leyendecker, Ruhr-Universität Bochum
  Non-Presenting Author