MIGRANT CLINICIANS NETWORK ANNOUNCES NEW PROJECT WITH NATIONAL CHILDREN’S CENTER: PROTECTING CHILDREN WHEN PARENTS WORK FOCUSES ON SAFETY OF MIGRANT FARMWORKERS’ CHILDREN
SALISBURY, MD -- Migrant Clinicians Network (MCN) is launching a new collaboration with long-time partner National Children’s Center for Rural Agricultural Health and Safety (NCCRAHS) on a five-year outreach project to provide safe places for children while their parents are working. The project is one of seven NCCRAHS projects funded by a $6 million competitive grant, awarded to NCCRAHS from National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) on September 25.
“Children of workers who accompany their parents to farms are vulnerable to pesticide exposure and other hazards associated with agricultural work,” said Amy Liebman, MCN’s director of environmental and occupational health. The project will engage agricultural employers and child care providers to facilitate the availability of and access to services for children of migrant and immigrant agricultural workers.
The multifaceted project approaches the issue of children at the workplace from several angles. The project leaders from MCN and NCCRAHS will collaborate closely with industry leaders to bring the issue to the forefront. The project includes data collection and analysis to determine barriers to care for children, and coalition building and stakeholder engagement. Project leaders will also work closely with leaders in from Migrant Head Start. This project will promote a child care program based on the highly successful Redlands Christian Migrants Association’s model of care for migrant workers’ children. MCN and NCCRAHS will provide recommendations for future safe-child measures that can be implemented throughout the country.
MCN has worked with NCCRAHS, well-known for its work to reduce childhood agricultural injuries and fatalities, on multiple projects for almost 20 years.
ABOUT MCN
MCN [1] works across the US and globally to provide support, technical assistance, and professional development to clinicians working on the frontlines of migration health. MCN’s Salisbury, Maryland office focuses on the unique environmental and occupational health conditions facing our migrant population as a result of their work.
CONTACT
For more information on this project, contact Juliana Simmons, MCN’s Environmental and Occupational Health Program Manager, at jsimmons@migrantclinician.org [2].