parenting arizona

>> anncr: discussing the issuesthat make phoenix a world-class city. now, "on the issues." >> welcome to "on the issues." i'm phoenix city councilwomankate gallego. on today's show, you will learnabout the somali american united council of arizona, and hearfrom a local woman about her journey to become a fosterparent. first, there's a health clinicin phoenix that is one of a kind

in terms of the population itserves. here to tell us more is dr.krista johnson-agbakwu, founder and director of the refugeewomen's health clinic at maricopa integrated healthsystems. welcome to the show. >> thank you so much for havingme. >> can you tell us a little bitabout the clinic? >> sure, so the clinic waslaunched in october of 2008, really in response to thegrowing needs to serve the

ever-increasing refugeepopulation here in the valley. many people may not know, butarizona is one of the leading host states for newly-arrivedrefugees being resettled for humanitarian reasons from aroundthe world. we have a population of over63,000 who have been resettled here since 1978, and 80% of allrefugees are resettled here in maricopa county. and that makes about 50,000 thatwe serve here. and so our health system,maricopa integrated health

system, has really taken thelead in championing our clinic, because we are the first of itskind here in the state of arizona, and we're leading thenation in terms of being a model of best practices for refugeewomen's health. since we started in 2008, we'vebeen able to grow to now serve over 5,000 refugees since webegan, coming from 43 different countries across sub-saharanafrica, southeast asia, and the middle east, speaking about 36different languages. some of our largest populationsare from somalia, iraq, burma,

otherwise known as myanmar, andwe're having increasing new arrivals from the democraticrepublic of congo, which has really be ravaged by systemicconflict, and rape as a weapon of war, so we have many womenwho are coming who are survivors of sexual and gender-basedviolence. so we've created a safe spacefor refugees where we're creating an environment that'swelcoming. we have a full-time staff ofinterpreters, who we call cultural health navigators,because they are bi-cultural.

they are multilingual. they speak about 13 languagesof our most common populations that we serve. and they really are the bridgebetween our refugee communities and our health care system, andhoping to bridge some of those gaps to increase access to careand continuity, and really to build trust with our patients. and we've really shownremarkable growth in terms of the impact we've had on some ofthe known challenges.

a lot of these women have nothad opportunities to go to school in the countries wherethey've come from, and have very low literacy, not just inenglish, but even in their own native language. so we strive to do a lot of workto enhance their literacy using a lot of direct communication,a lot of audiovisual aids, and just really close partnershipswith our staff working to help them understand how to navigatethe health care system. >> wonderful.

we are so lucky to have thisone-of-a-kind clinic and to have you in our district. can you tell me a little bitabout your background and how you came to this work? >> sure. so my parents were alsoimmigrants from jamaica, and i grew up in connecticut, wherethey were very much involved in the community, very sociallyactive, and really responsive to the influx of caribbeanimmigrants who were also

struggling and adjusting to lifein the u.s. and that really had a mark on mefrom a very young age, and i think that really led me to havea passion for service and for community outreach andmobilization. and throughout my training, wheni was a college student at johns hopkins university, i had theopportunity to take a course back in 1995, 1996, in "women inprecolonial africa," where i was first introduced to the practiceof female genital mutilation, otherwise known as femalegenital cutting.

and that pretty much became thedefining moment for what is my current career, in that i wasable to spend the semester researching the issues, thecultural issues and history around this cultural practice. and then when i went on tomedical school in new york, at weill medical college ofcornell, i was able to work with a nonprofit agency in new yorkcity, working, doing a lot of community advocacy and educationfor newly-arrived african immigrants who had undergonefemale genital cutting.

and that really is whatdetermined my desire to pursue obstetrics and gynecology, andover the years, i've been able to really build upon my passionto improve advocacy and policy directives around caring forvulnerable populations. and throughout my training, iwas able to further hone my skills in conducting research,and also engaging communities. my most recent fellowship was arobert wood johnson clinical scholars program out of theuniversity of michigan where i was able to work very closelywith the somali immigrant

community in columbus, ohio. i worked with over 500 women,examining some of the barriers they've experienced in accessingcare, and that's what led me to want to launch out on my own tosay, "okay, i know what the issues are. i know what the challenges arearound trust and patient-provider communicationand cultural nuances and misunderstandings around genitalcutting," and i thought, "why don't i try to start a clinic ofmy own, where we can become a

best-practice model on improvingcare?" and so at maricopa integratedhealth system, our department of ob/gyn, our chair, dr. deancoonrod, also had a shared vision, because they werestruggling for years with some of the cultural challenges andbarriers around serving this unique population. and so in 2008, we started fromthe ground up and really building an infrastructure toprovide support and improve the quality of care, as well asteach the next generation of

physicians, medical students,nursing students, residents in training, to become culturallycompetent and knowledgeable about how to engage inculturally sensitive dialogue with patients so that we canprovide quality care, address the language needs, improvetheir health literacy, and really empower women and supporttheir reproductive health care. and so it's been an amazingjourney, and our hospital has been tremendously supportive. we've made significantmilestones in terms of improving

and reducing our c-sectionrates. our c-section rates are amongthe lowest that we've seen, and we've been gathering data on themore than 500 deliveries that we've had, and we're showingthat women are really coming into care earlier, and arereally developing better understanding about westernmedicine, which is often very foreign. preventive health, westernmedicine, is often a very new concept for women and theirfamilies, and really trying to

bridge some of those gaps toreally improve their outcomes. >> that's wonderful. reproductive health is adifficult situation for people, even in the medical system withwhich they're familiar, so it's fabulous that you're reachingout to people and making what is a difficult time much, mucheasier. >> thank you. >> we're lucky to have you. can you tell us a little bitabout the maricopa integrated

health care system, the systemthat you're a part of? >> yes. so it is the only safety nethospital, public hospital here in the state, and its missionhistorically has been to serve the underserved population. so it's a very unique niche, andwe are the leading teaching hospital in the state, and sothere is a responsibility to not only provide excellent qualitycare to very vulnerable populations, but also to serveas a training ground for health

professionals, physicians,nurses, social work, various health fields. and with that teachingenvironment, there are supervised opportunities forlearning with direct hands-on patient care, and our refugeepopulation is a perfect example of that. we've been able to engage manyof our ob/gyn residents in training in direct projectsinvolving our patients and our surrounding refugee community,which has been a wonderful

learning experience for ourtrainees, as well as for the patients and communitiesthemselves. and so i think we serve a veryunique mission, and now we're being recognized nationally forthe impact that we're having and the model that otherinstitutions are seeking to replicate in other regions ofthe country. >> i understand you just cameback from a national conference. >> it was the north americanrefugee health care conference. it's the fourth annualconference engaging

practitioners and providers ofrefugee health services from a myriad of different disciplines,not only here in america, but in canada, and we even had visitorsfrom australia and other international regions of theworld. and this really is an annualconference that brings together these various specialties totalk about what are we doing to improve refugee health in aninterdisciplinary fashion, whether it's talking about thechallenges with pediatric populations, with mental health-- ptsd, which is post-traumatic

stress disorder, and depressionare very huge where there are concerns regarding the highnumber of bhutanese suicides that are occurring among newarrivals. and then we also look at some ofthe challenges around women's health. and so over the three-dayconference, there are many different presentationsdiscussing some of these challenges, but also models ofcare that are working. and i was a keynote speaker forthis event, which was a

tremendous honor, and i was ableto really set the platform for the conference, talking aboutsome of the global challenges, not just here domestically, buton an international base in terms of what's happening in therefugee camp settings, as well as upon resettlement here in theunited states, and some of the vulnerabilities women areexposed to, and survivors of. so it was an amazingopportunity. also, there are opportunitiesfor networking with the centers for disease control and theoffice of refugee resettlement,

and all of the other majorstakeholders who are involved in resettling populations acrossthe united states. >> wonderful, and it's a lot ofstakeholders coming together. i'm glad our phoenix firstresponders, including our firefighters, are learning moreand more about your clinic, so that we can make sure that weare getting our residents to the clinic that can help them most. >> oh, yes. we've had really greatpartnerships, actually, with the

fire department and paramedics,because there's a lot of our patients, because of the lowlanguage proficiency and literacy, they're not able tocall for help if they need to get to the hospital in a timelyfashion, say, if they're in labor. so over the years we'vepartnered closely with our fire department and paramedics interms of giving patients little cards that says, "i am receivingcare at maricopa medical center. please take me there."

and if it's safe, often theparamedics are able to bring them to our hospital, which alsoensures that continuity of care, because we can meet theirlanguage needs. we know their history. we have their records, and thathas really been instrumental in closing some of those gaps wherethey might otherwise have not been able to make it to thehospital. so that's a perfect example ofour wonderful partnerships that we've had within our community.

>> well, it was so good to haveyou on the show today. thank you for the hard work thatyou are doing, and for all the women who you've helped. >> coming up next, we will learnabout the somali american united council of arizona. keep watching "on the issues." >> my life is full ofstatistics. thing is, i could have droppedout of school and become one myself.

but i didn't, because i hadpeople that believed in me. here's another statistic, 7,000students drop out every school day. that's one every 26 seconds. it's time that students knowthat we believe in them. >> anncr: inspire a studentand share your message of support at boostup.org. >> welcome back to "on theissues." i'm councilwoman kate gallego.

we are continuing our focus onsomali refugees in arizona. joining me now is the presidentand ceo of the somali american united council of arizona,dr. mohamed ali abukar. thank you for being here. >> thank you so much. i really feel honored andprivileged to be here today on the show, and i thank you forthe opportunity. we appreciate the work you havedone on behalf of the somali community and arizona as awhole.

could you tell us a little bitabout your personal story and how you came to phoenix? >> my background effectively isthat i hold several degrees -- several degrees from italy andunited states, bachelor's, bs, master's degrees from italy andunited states, certificate of journalism, and a ph.d. in public administration,emphasis in international extension management. back home, i was chairman of thenational protection and general

manager of the largest eastafrican program for poverty education and food securityprograms. in 1991, we had the civil war insomalia. i was not at all willing toparticipate in that civil war, and 1995 i'd been grantedpolitical asylum in the united states, and then hired by theutah state university, teaching four courses, graduate courses,and advising the department head on international extensionmanagement, and international development issue.

and that is logan, northern partof utah. in 2004, while i was shovelingsnow just to get my car out of the garage -- logan, northernpart of utah, is very cold and lot of snow --while i was shovelling the snow just to get my car out of thegarage, i had my heart attack which took me to one bypass. and i'd been told to move to awarm place, and i said, "where is the warmest place close toutah?" i'd been told that phoenix isone of the best, and in 2005 i

moved to arizona, phoenix. when i came here, i have seenthe necessity and the importance that my community that were inneed of an assistant in their process of resettlement, properresettlement and integration, and become productivelaw-abiding citizens, and that's where effectively i establishedthe somali american united council. i'm the founder and president ofthe somali american united >> can you tell us a little bitabout the somali community in

arizona? >> we have really very largecommunity in arizona, and for several years, one of the topsarriving refugees, including effectively somalia, congo,bhutanese, burmese, and iraqi are the topas effective. we have 11,000 somali refugees,about 5,000 who came straight from the refugee camps, andeffectively 6,000 have moved from other states. like myself, i moved from utah.

and here, effectively, most ofthem are coming from nomadic and semi-nomadic society. as you are aware, somalia iseffectively 60% are nomads, 20% are resettled farmers,and 20% are urban. so the number of the refugeesthat came in united states are mostly illiterate in alllanguage. no rule of law in the nomadicarea, and in the resettled area, effectively people are notfriend to law enforcement. so when they are arriving herein united states, they need lot

of support and lot of help andlot of education, to become productive law-abiding citizensand have a proper resettlement here in united states. i'm glad you're here to helpthem. can you tell us a little bitmore about the council some of your success stories? in 2005, that's when we haveestablished the somali american united council, and the maingoal was effectively to help our refugee here, and in themeantime, heal the wounds that

have been created by the civilwar in somalia. the civil war in somalia is in1991, effectively by a culture of impurity, lack ofreconciliation, have resulted to a civil war. somalian civil war, powerstruggles based on tribalism, and as everyone is aware thattribalism and religious extremists are always orcontinuously fueling interconflict and strugglefor internal power. so most of the people who havesuffered these civil war issues,

they were the most vulnerablewere the female. and they went througheffectively torture. they went through rape. seeing the most close person tothem killed in front of them, and that's when they move intorefugee camps in neighboring country. even there, they were notfeeling safe. mostly, they're affected by posttraumatic stress disorder. they felt effectively freedomand opportunity just when they

arrive in the united states. so they have to be guidedthrough all the program. we are, in the somali americanunited council, we are really indeed the catalyst and bridgefor our community for the proper process, and positiveness andintegration with our community. the services that we providethere are case management, translation, job readiness andjob placement, education, effective parenting education,esl classes, citizen classes, woman empowerment program,sewing program, breast cancer

outreach program, preventionof -- the measures for tb test, effective educating our peopleto voluntarily be tested. and then education for properinteraction with the law enforcement and how to build apartnership with the law enforcement. effectively, the other programthat we do, it is senior assistance, youth enrichmentdevelopment program, after-school tutoring programs,soccer or sports program. so we are helping our people.

when we are talking about thetutoring, effectively most of the family that arrives here arecoming from nomadic society, and nomadic society, they've neverbeen in the schooling. and there are kids who are 12years, 15 years, 14 years old, they go straight to high school,and they have never touched a pen. so the drop rate is very high. and we are establishing ourprogram in our center, a tutoring program for afterschool for helping these people

to become successful in theireducational program. thank you so much for joining ustoday. it's been a pleasure having you. up next, we will hear the storyof one woman's journey to become a foster mother. [music] >> welcome back to "on the issues." joining me now is mia stewart toshare her story of becoming a foster parent.

>> thank you for having me. >> we celebrated foster parentawareness month in may, and recognized the 15,000 studentsin the foster system. thank you for your work to helpaddress this issue. could you give us a little bitof your story as a foster parent? >> my journey was kind of animpromptu. my relatives were placed in mycare in the latter part of 2013, and so therefore, that caused meto do the foster caring portion

of it as well as the licensingportion all at the same time, without any additional trainingprior to the placements. >> and tell us about theexperience. was it a positive one? do you see opportunities forpolicymakers to improve? >> oh, yes, definitely. there's plenty of room forreinforcement and to make changes. you have to ensure that yourheart is ready to receive the

children, and that you'resteadfast on that mission. there are a lot of communityresources, faith-based organizations, that support themovement and the information provided to foster parents thatwant to gird up the whole system here in arizona to ensure thatthe children are provided for, and given a safe haven at thesame time. >> do you think the stateprovides enough resources to foster parents? >> they provide resources, butthe information pertaining to

the route you should take to getthe resources is the difficult portion. you have to be able to tap intothose resources on your own most of the time, or have differentavenues to take to ensure that you can get those differentresources. if it's something that's inblack and white on paper that you could get a packet, it wouldbe easy. it's like a road map. but instead, you have to try totap into different areas and

contact different individuals toensure that you have the information needed. >> and can you tell us why youthink it's important for people to become foster parents? >> because it's a way to giveback. i'm a third-generation fosterparent, and i was able to witness my family give back tothe community and assist those in need. not all children will bepermanent placements, but it's a

wonderful feeling to know thatyou can assist a family and those children in their time ofneed, just to fill in that gap until the parents or their lovedones can get back on track and receive their children back intotheir homes. and with so many children outthere, and you have individuals like myself that are single buthave time and have the heart and have the energy and theresources to do so, it's a blessing to be able to standthere and love someone and provide that care in a time ofneed.

well, foster and adoptiveparents are true heroes and our community, and thank you forstepping up. for people who can't or who arenot ready to become foster parents, but who want to supportfoster parents, is there anything they can do? there's boot camps available,like the community walk that we had pertaining to may, which isfoster care month. you can come out and assist withtying the ribbons. you can assist throughout thecommunity and arizona when you

have children that want to havetutors. if you're in an educationalfield, you could become a tutor. if you're an individual that'sathletic, you might want to become a sport athletic withthem to assist them on the sport end, and going to their eventsas a cheerleader for the kids. you may not necessarily have tobecome a foster parent, but you can definitely volunteer atdifferent areas where children are available, and give theparents a break or that added pat on the back to tell themthat it's okay, and you have an

additional support system hereto gird you up in your time of need. >> it was a pleasure for me tobe part of tying the ribbons on washington this year, the 15,000ribbons to recognize the 15,000 youth. can you tell us a little bitabout that tradition and what it symbolizes, how it drawsattention to the issue? >> well, the ribbons symbolizeeach child that's in foster care.

so when you rode down jeffersonand you saw those ribbons that were placed, that representedthat there was a child for each ribbon that was in care,and that there was a family. if they were not placed with afamily, they were either in a group home, but they were out ofhome care children. and there's still children outthere that need assistance, and it gave you an eye-opener whenyou can visually see that this is something that is needed. these children, we don't chooseour parents, just like we don't

choose our foster parents. but it's our choice is if weopen up our homes and our hearts to them, and it's a wonderfulthing to be able to give back and see visually how much it isthat the help is needed and where it's needed. >> there's a lot of youth. it was a very powerful vision ofjust how many 15,000 is. well, thank you so much. i really appreciate you joiningus here today.

any final words before we break? >> my final word is that everychild out there deserves an opportunity to have that specialhug and that special love, and no one knows what journey youmay play in a child's life. >> well, thank you for steppingup and for being a hero to our community. we really have appreciatedhaving you here today. >> well, thank you. it's a pleasure to be here.

>> that's all the time we havefor this month's "on the

if you have any questions orcomments about the show, please call my office at 602-262-7493,or visit phoenix.gov/district8. we'll see you next time "on theissues." closed caption productions - www.ccproductions.com -