	Immigrant and Refugee Resettlement: Resettlement Practice with Separated and Unaccompanied Children; Transition Services; Immigration, Citizenship and Naturalization Legal Assistance Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

IRR 8: Resettlement Practice

Services for refugees foster maximum independence, self-direction, and self-help through provision of information, friendship and support, and skills training to increase an individual’s ability to transfer skills of use in a former country to a new environment.

NA The organization provides only legal services.

IRR 8.01

The organization provides or arranges for pre-arrival, reception, and orientation for service recipients, including:

preparation of the refugee, sponsors, and the community for their initial meeting and relationship with one another;
coordination of initial arrangements for practical necessities, including culturally appropriate meals, emergency assistance, and housing that meets local and/or HUD housing codes;
help locating relatives and assessing the possibility of family reunions;
exposure to local cultural expectations; and
introduction to activities that foster preservation of the individual’s cultural heritage and ethnic identity, if desired.

Interpretation: Resettling individuals often identify emergency financial assistance, housing, health care, and immigration documentation, as needed immediately.

NA The organization does not provide pre-arrival and reception services.

IRR 8.02

Services are responsive to resettlement dynamics, including:

the variation in family members’ adjustment, depending on age, health, skills, personal qualities, role in the family, and family history;
a “back-and-forth,” adjustment, that can make it difficult to assess gains;
a focus on the service recipient’s greatest and basic needs;
the need to establish predictability and consistency; and
the value of complete, accurate, dependable information provided in a way that fosters self-support and maximum self-determination.

Interpretation: Regarding Element e)., for the specific purpose of facilitating collection of accurate information, the role of “culture broker,” played by caring community members who gather information informally, can be a more effective way to gain insight into immigrant and refugee concerns than an interview format, which can be perceived as an interrogation. Culturally similar program staff can fill this role, as can trained volunteers provided confidentiality of information is maintained.

IRR 8.03

Programs that support transition and adjustment are appropriate to the person’s age, gender, and cultural background, and include:

opportunities to explore, understand, and cope with cultural differences;
support of the person's values, beliefs, and ethnic and religious identity;
recognition of the person’s coping skills, flexibility, and ability to make good decisions;
group and individual support;
group and individual opportunities for conflict resolution; and
information about how to locate and use community resources.

IRR 8.04

Organizations serving immigrant and refugee status families and children involved with child welfare agencies work collaboratively with the agency and other providers to:

develop a permanency plan that takes into account cultural factors and all available community resources; and
obtain training and consultation on immigration law and procedures, as needed.

NA The organization does not serve families and children involved with child welfare agencies.

IRR 8.05

The organization provides, directly or by referral, English language assessment and education.

IRR 8.06

The organization provides case coordination and referral for services it does not deliver and cannot address through cooperative arrangements, including translation of documents and oral interpretation.

Interpretation: Dependence upon children to serve as a translator or interpreter for adult family members as “a last resort,” is a concerning practice and should not be allowed.

IRR 8.07

When the organization accepts responsibility for the local resettlement of individuals or families served by another organization, a written agreement describes the relationship and specific services to be provided.

NA The organization does not accept responsibility for the local resettlement of individuals served by another organization.

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	PURPOSE: Immigrants and refugees acquire the cross-cultural information, skills, and social support network needed to gain stability, make a positive personal and social adjustment, maintain family connections and well-being, and achieve educational, economic and civic participation goals.

RELATED FILES


	IMMIGRANT An individual not born in the United States, Puerto Rico, or an outlying US territory, who migrates from his/her country of nationality or any country in which they last habitually resided and chooses to seek a better economic, social or religious life abroad. Immigrants, and children of immigrants, can be citizens, Legal Permanent Residents "a step toward naturalization as a US citizen" or non-citizens, either legal or undocumented without legal status.


	REFUGEE Those who flee their home country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution due to race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion and are unable or unwilling to return to, or avail themselves of, their home country.


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	TRAINING Instruction so as to make fit, qualified, or proficient in a skill or body of knowledge.


	SERVICE RECIPIENT The individuals, groups, organizations, or communities that use, receive, or benefit from programs and services. Service recipients can include consumers, patients, family members, legal guardians, advocates, public/private organizations, employers, and purchasers. All are regarded as significant stakeholders served in a variety of agencies and practice settings.


	COMMUNITY A specific group of people living in the same locality and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, tribal affiliation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, tribes, residential neighborhoods, business districts, recreational areas, and health and human service sites.


	CULTURE The customs, habits, values, skills, technology, beliefs, and religious, social, and political behaviors of a group of people in a specific period of time.


	PROGRAM A system of services offered by an organization. For example, an organization providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programs to different populations, e.g., a mental health program for adolescent teens. The word "program" can be used interchangeably with the word "service" or to describe specific programs.


	VOLUNTEER An individual who performs services for an organization for civic, charitable, or humanitarian reasons, without promise, expectation, or receipt of compensation for services rendered. Such service must be offered freely and without pressure or coercion, direct or implied, from an employer. If the individual is otherwise employed by the same employer for which s/he volunteers, the individual cannot volunteer to perform the same type of services that s/he is paid to perform as an employee.


	CONFIDENTIALITY An ethical and practice principle that requires the protection of information shared within a professional-client relationship. An organization that upholds confidentiality prohibits personnel from disclosing information about persons served without their written consent.


	ASSESSMENT An evaluation, which utilizes professional expertise and skills in the collection and analysis of data to understand and describe the nature of service needs of an individual, family, or group. Assessment, as in needs assessment, is also used to determine priorities of program planning and service development for the organization as a whole. See also DIAGNOSIS.


	PRACTICE Established actions or ways of proceeding in the regular performance of organizational duties. Policies and procedures often guide practice.


	CASE A general term used to designate clients (including individuals, families, and groups) served by an organization for purposes of monitoring the provision of services. A foster care case is generally based on the placement of an individual child, although casework for the child may include services to the child's family. A child protective services case is based on an entire family household if a family assessment model is used; otherwise a case is defined as a child.