	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

PA-IRR 7: Sponsoring Families, Groups, and Communities

The agency cooperates with sponsoring individuals and families, national organizations, public agencies, voluntary organizations, local associations, and community groups, to integrate service recipients into the community.

NA The agency provides only legal services.

PA-IRR 7.01

The agency and sponsor sign an agreement, including an assessment of the sponsor’s ability to provide reception and suitable housing upon arrival and to assist in resettlement, and this information is entered into case notes.

Interpretation: Sponsoring individuals and families are sometimes known as an “anchor” for newcomers.

PA-IRR 7.02

The agency aids sponsoring individuals, families, and groups through an ongoing program of support, including assistance for:

relatives to prepare documents to facilitate emigration; and
families to understand the financial and personal commitment necessary to support resettlement.

PA-IRR 7.03

The agency:

cooperates with community organizations and other resources, shares information, and coordinates services to sensitize the receiving community to the needs of service recipients and their cultural differences; and
serves as a resource to organizations involved in resettlement and reunification efforts.

Research Note: Professional literature that examines the status of children of immigrants and draws upon empirical studies of immigrant experience, points to the significance of community cohesion in facilitating a family’s resettlement and, in particular, the positive adjustment of children challenged to maintain family obligations and ethnic pride while acquiring ways to cope with significant challenges.

PA-IRR 7.04

The agency makes use of formal and informal networks among settled and resettling members of the community to meet mutual social, religious, recreational, vocational, and educational needs.

PA-IRR 7.05

Agencies based in the community reinforce cultural ties and encourage positive communication among and between families and adults and critical service providers, such as schools, law enforcement, and health care settings.

Research Note: Professional literature notes challenges to reinforcing parental authority and other family strengths that communities and service institutions face when immigrant parents work in low wage jobs, have limited education and language skills, and have limited access to services and support.

Research Note: Professional literature highlights challenges for trafficked individuals and service providers to balance the need to maintain family connections with the need to be safe. Programs serving trafficked children and youth weigh how to make appropriate best interest determinations related to maintaining cultural ties when young people who have been exploited and intimidated through criminal activity are strongly oriented toward adult roles and responsibilities.

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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."


	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.


	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.


	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.


	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.


	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.


	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.


	PARENTS Parents can include: birth, foster, kinship, and adoptive parents. Please see service standards for more specific information about use of this term.