When families migrate, they often separate and then reunify. Cultural responsiveness with immigrant and refugee children and families requires more than just learning about their culture. It also includes an understanding of the process of migration, the reasons families migrate, and the process of acculturation and related family or marital stressors. Organizations should incorporate cultural responsiveness into every level of their structure. Use these resources to help professionals work with immigrant and refugee families in a culturally appropriate manner and build culturally responsive organizations.

Cultural responsiveness of workers

Best Practices for Child Welfare in Working With Families With Immigration Members (PDF - 1,222 KB)
Migration Policy Institute (2021)
Reviews best practices for child welfare workers engaging with immigrant and refugee families and offers information on staff training and procedures, placement of children, and child welfare intersections with the immigration system.

Best Practices Guide for Working With Karen, Nepali-Bhutanese, Oromo, and Somali Families in Child Welfare: Second Education
Molloy & Shannon (2020)
Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare
Identifies themes commonly experienced by refugees, including a learned distrust of government actors, as well as population-specific information to support the cultural responsiveness of child welfare workers working with refugees.

Cultural Competence Secrets to Success With Immigrant Families: Spreading and Adapting 2Gen Working Practices [Webinar]
Aspen Institute & the Migration Policy Institute (2021)
Explains how developing cultural responsiveness is especially important for child welfare professionals working with immigrant and refugee families and offers a webinar to help make two generation approaches more culturally appropriate and relevant.

Cultural Competency in Child Welfare Practice: A Bridge Worth Building
Bridging Refugee Youth and Children’s Services
Shares best-practice approaches and real-world examples for increasing collaboration and understanding between child welfare workers and refugee and immigrant families.

A Future for All of Us: A Report on Phase 1 of the Butterfly Lab for Immigrant Narrative Strategy (PDF - 10,661 KB)
Chang, Sen, Treibitz, Abdullah, & Hammon (2022)
Race Forward
Presents tools and insights for those working with immigrant and refugee populations on how to create a narrative strategy that promotes unity, celebrates diversity, and brings people together.

How the Child Welfare System Can Better Respond to Needs of Children from Immigrant Families
Migration Policy Institute (2021)
Addresses considerations for the challenges presented by children and family immigration system and for organizations to gain further knowledge on working with families facing difficulties with immigration, language barriers, and cultural differences. 

Parenting in a New Context: Foundational Tenets of Culturally Responsive Care
National Child Traumatic Stress Network (2020)
Presents information to help child welfare professionals in partnering with refugee and immigrant caregivers. This resource also highlights methods for effectively engaging, serving, and supporting these caregivers.

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Culturally responsive child welfare agencies

Best Practices to Support Immigrant Families Involved in the Child Welfare System (PDF - 502 KB)
Center on Immigration and Child Welfare (2019)
Highlights agency- and practitioner-level best practices for supporting immigrant families.

Family and Community Centered Child Welfare Practice With Refugees and Immigrants
Bridging Refugee Youth and Children’s Services (2018)
Reviews family- and community-centered child welfare models and the ways in which they can inform culturally responsive, tailored services for refugees and immigrants. The resources include toolkits, such as the following:

Growing Language Skills With Immigrant Families: Spreading and Adapting 2Gen Working Practices [Webinar]
Aspen Institute (2021)
Shares a webinar on promising practices that can help grow language skills for immigrant and refugee families while providing two generation approaches to culturally sensitive wrap-around services.

How the Child Welfare System Can Better Respond to Needs of Children From Immigrant Families [Webinar]
Migration Policy Institute (2021)
Features a webinar on how child welfare agencies can improve their responsiveness to the needs of immigrant families and work to promote the well-being of immigrant children.

Refugee Resettlement and Child Welfare: Collaboration for Child Protection
Bridging Refugee Youth and Children’s Services
Promotes the value of collaboration between refugee service providers and child welfare agencies working together to serve refugee families.

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