WASHINGTON – The U.S. refugee resettlement program is facing an extraordinary set of pressures amid an unprecedented reduction in refugee admissions that has triggered drastic funding cuts for the non-governmental agencies that resettle refugees, hollowing out the network’s capacity. These challenges make this a particularly important time to consider how programs can most effectively serve the full spectrum of refugee integration needs.
Traditionally the resettlement system has concentrated on helping adult refugees find employment quickly, with this focus crowding out resources for their children or non-working family members. However, research and experience point to the benefits of adopting strategies that address the needs of the whole family, with strong and supportive families resulting in better outcomes for children.
Grounded in that knowledge, the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) today released a new study on how human service agencies could strengthen refugee integration by embracing a two-generation approach.
The report, Promoting Refugee Integration in Challenging Times: The Potential of Two-Generation Strategies, draws on interviews with resettlement agency staff and with state refugee coordinators from the 10 states that have received the largest number of refugees in recent years. The researchers also drew on site visits to six states and a May 2018 MPI convening that brought together state refugee coordinators from a dozen states with experts in two-generation models, early care and education, school-age refugees and refugee employment services. The report also provides an overview of refugee admissions to the United States, the U.S. refugee resettlement process and background on the use of two-generation strategies in human services provision beyond the refugee realm.
Drawing upon successful programs that are occurring at state and local levels, the researchers identify promising practices for serving children in refugee families and their parents, for helping adult refugees get into better jobs over time and for meeting the broader integration needs of refugee families. Among these:
The report also offers a series of recommendations for ways the federal government, state leadership and state refugee coordinators, and voluntary agencies can implement and support two-generation approaches to refugee integration.
“Even in challenging times, there are steps that the federal government, states and voluntary resettlement organizations can take to advance successful refugee integration efforts,” said MPI Senior Fellow Mark Greenberg, the study’s lead co-author and a former acting assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Read the report here: www.migrationpolicy.org/research/refugee-integration-two-generation-strategies.
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The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank in Washington, DC dedicated to analysis of the movement of people worldwide. MPI provides analysis, development and evaluation of migration and refugee policies at local, national and international levels.