Despite the fact that 36 percent of the eight million people living in New York City are foreign born and more than 50 percent young New Yorkers grew up in immigrant families, the city’s early childhood educational programs fail to meet the needs of kids from ethnic backgrounds. The inadequacy can be attributed to the lack of properly translated materials and culturally sensitive childcare professionals.

“A majority of information brochures are translated into Spanish and Chinese, whereas other nations and languages are omitted. In addition, the existing translations are inaccurate and do not account for differences in dialects,” said Wayne Ho, executive director of Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, at a conference held in New York University’s Kimmel Center. His organization conducted research on the effectiveness of city early childhood programs for kids from immigrant families.

“Very often caregivers have no idea about cultural and social aspects crucial in raising a child from an immigrant background. Effective early childhood programs are indispensable for a child’s healthy development and the sound functioning of family in a foreign land,” Ho explained.

The parents who have a poor command of English do not realize that there is help available or the kind of assistance they can obtain. “They do not know, for instance, that the law does not require them to have their Social Security number when enrolling their child for a preschool program. This is often an element deterring undocumented immigrants from sending their kids to a local child care program,” Ho said.

The child programs offered by the city have three goals: to support working families by providing care for their children within an educational context; to promote school readiness and child development; and to close the achievement gap. “It is not enough for the programs to exist. Quality and accessibility are the two most important aspects,” Ho pointed out. “In order to allow children from immigrant families to take full advantage of available child care programs in New York City., we need to solve all those problems. It is also crucial that the parents feel they can trust us, so that they feel comfortable and safe send their kids to city facilities. We need to assure them that their children will learn English there but not at the expense of their native language and culture.”