Maki Park
Senior Policy Analyst
Maki Park is a Senior Policy Analyst for Early Education and Care at the Migration Policy Institute’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, where her work focuses on early childhood policies affecting children of immigrants and Dual Language Learners (DLLs) from birth to age 8 in the United States and internationally. She also supports a national project coordinating grassroots organizations seeking to expand access to affordable, high-quality child care and is training to become a licensed mental health counselor.
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Previously, Ms. Park worked as Director of Outreach and Program Manager at WorldTeach, based at Harvard's Center for International Development, where she oversaw recruiting and admissions operations and managed the organization's program in Guyana. She has also worked as an education consultant in Malawi and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Turkmenistan.
Ms. Park holds a master's in international education policy from Harvard University's Graduate School of Education, and earned her bachelor's degree with a double major in French and government with a concentration in international relations from Cornell University.
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MPI analysts discuss their analysis comparing key sociodemographic characteristics of immigrant and U.S.-born parents of young and school-age children, along with the two-generational implications of these findings.
Marking a policy brief's release, this webinar explores the promise of home visiting services that support new parents alongside their infants and toddlers, plus strategies for improving how these programs work with immigrant and linguistically diverse families.
Experts on this webinar discuss efforts being undertaken in Maryland to serve refugee families with young children through tailored, trauma-informed approaches that address their specific mental health needs.
Experts discuss the effects of trauma on the development of young refugee children, and highlight ways early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs can address this trauma, including practical strategies that child-care providers in Canada are using to support the resiliency of refugee children and families.
On this webinar, authors discuss their findings, highlighting promising policies and practices for serving young children of refugees and asylum seekers in nine key host countries, as well as key areas in which ECEC services need to be strengthened.
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Recent Activity
Home visiting programs can offer critical integration-related supports, yet many Dual Language Learner (DLL) and immigrant families are known to be underserved. With reauthorization of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Child Home Visiting (MIECHV) program looming, Congress has an important opportunity to support families with young children—many of whom are still struggling with challenges exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Child care provided informally by relatives, friends, and neighbors is the most common form of U.S. child care, and it is particularly prevalent among immigrant and Dual Language Learner families. Yet it is frequently overlooked in child-care policy conversations. This brief explores the importance of this type of care and highlights promising practices for increasing support for care providers and the families they serve.
A large and growing number of young children in the United States have at least one parent who speaks a language other than English at home. These Dual Language Learners (DLLs) have been shown to benefit considerably from high-quality early childhood programs, but better data are needed to make sure these services are responsive to the experiences and learning needs of these preschoolers. This issue brief sets out a framework for comprehensive DLL identification.
Across the United States, Dual Language Learners (DLLs) are a diverse and growing group of young children. Yet data on DLLs in early childhood programs are scarce. This report examines federal, state, and local approaches to DLL identification, as well as opportunities to advance more comprehensive policies and practices—critical steps toward supporting these children’s school readiness and future success.
MPI analysts discuss their analysis comparing key sociodemographic characteristics of immigrant and U.S.-born parents of young and school-age children, along with the two-generational implications of these findings. Speakers also explored potential ways to incorporate measures with an eye to achieving more responsive and effective service designs and improving equity and access more generally for these families.
Marking a policy brief's release, this webinar explores the promise of home visiting services that support new parents alongside their infants and toddlers, plus strategies for improving how these programs work with immigrant and linguistically diverse families.
Home visiting programs for young families are growing in popularity across the United States, and have demonstrated their effectiveness in supporting maternal health and child well-being. At the same time, more infants and toddlers are growing up in immigrant families and households where a language other than English is spoken. Why then are these children under-represented in these programs? This brief explores common barriers, ways to address them, and why it is important to do so.
The first years of a child’s life are a time of immense growth, and exposure to trauma—if left unaddressed—can have significant, lifelong effects. This issue brief examines how young children of refugees and other immigrants may be affected by trauma, and what early childhood education and care programs, health-care providers, and others can do to mitigate its adverse effects.
Opportunities Exist to Better Reach Dual Language Learner and Immigrant Families through Home Visiting Programs