Ottawa-Community
Immigrant Services Organization (OCISO) has recently developed the
Multicultural Liaison Program. This program was created to facilitate the
working together of students, parents, and staff in public schools towards
shared goals. These goals being: a good education for students, increased
cultural competence for all school staff, and harmonious integration of
immigrants and refugees into Canadian Society.
The Multicultural Liaison
Officer:
Facilitates the involvement of parents in their children's education
Helps immigrant refugee students to adapt to their new environment and to
benefit from the education system.
Promotes the development of positive race relation strategies among all
students.
Provides cross-cultural sensitization to the school staff.
Refer families to the appropriate community resources.
Position Functions:
Liaison and referral between parents, students, school staff and other
providers
Promote the creation of culturally sensitive links.
Develop communication strategies.
Provide opportunities for constructive dialogue towards solutions for
shared concerns.
Establish and maintain contact with "hard to reach" immigrant and refugee
families.
Inform and orient students, families and staff about settlement and
integration related issues such as how to access community and
institutional services and resources available to assist newcomers,
barriers that prevent families from full participation in their children's
education and collaborative strategies to promote equitable opportunities
for newcomer students in Ottawa-Carleton.
Facilitate the participation of ethno-cultural minority families in school
consultations and activities
Present the concerns and needs of immigrant and refugee families to the
service providers.
Facilitate access to services/resources when there are barriers due to
language or culture.
Refer clients to community resources.
Additional Position Functions:
Advocacy, Mediation,
Presentations, Organization of events and activities, Program
representation
Program development, Supervision, Administration, Internal Communication
To find out more about the MLO position, or to volunteer, please contact:
OCISO, 959 Wellington St. , Tel: 725-0202 ext. 333