Lisa Sanderson, Positive Youth Development Educator

Representatives of local youth-serving organizations, including SASD, HMAA, and Mental Health America, related concerns about disengagement/negative affect in school, lack of self-efficacy, dual identity challenges, and poor mental health in students from minoritized communities. Positive Youth Development Educator Lisa Sanderson researched these issues and found scholarly support/models for bicultural youth identity formation interventions with family-oriented therapeutic and narrative storytelling components. Further conversations with Us2 Behavioral Health and other Hmong stakeholders and extant youth requests for cultural programming or “enculturation” confirm the validity of this approach. Lisa is in process of refining the concept, establishing a concept content committee, and continuing dialogue with Hmong stakeholders as well as meeting with UW Extension leadership. Sheboygan schools are “majority-minority”. Programming that helps bicultural youth and their families to navigate acculturation, enculturation, and identity development can support positive outcomes in a variety of areas. There is potential statewide relevance and application in other minoritized communities. Artistic sharing out of resultant narrative stories in community contexts could lead to greater cross-cultural engagement and understanding in divisive times. Plan for future work with incoming refugee populations may also be relevant.