Working With Immigrant Families

When families migrate, they often separate and then reunify. Cultural competency with immigrant 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 competence into every level of their structure. This section includes resources to help professionals work with immigrant families in a culturally competent manner and build culturally competent organizations, including the domestic violence service providers and educators. It also includes resources specifically for immigrant families below. 

Cultural competency of workers

Best Practices Guide for Working With Karen, Nepali-Bhutanese, Oromo, and Somali Families in Child Welfare: Second Education
Molloy & Shannon (2020)
Center for Advanced Study 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 competency of child welfare workers working with refugees.

Child Welfare
Bridging Refugee Youth and Children’s Services
Provides population-specific toolkits and online trainings for service providers assisting immigrant and refugee families navigating the child welfare system.

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.

Minnesota’s Child Protection System: From the Voices of the Refugee Community Members (4-Part Series)
Shannon & Malloy (2019)
Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare
Highlights the experiences of members of the refugee community who have interacted with child protective services and navigated cultural differences related to corporal punishment, family structure, and other areas.

Refugee Trauma
National Child Traumatic Stress Network
Offers information about the accurate identification, assessment, and treatment of trauma associated with refugee migration in order to support professionals serving this population.

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Culturally competent 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
Reviews family- and community-centered child welfare models and the ways in which they can inform culturally competent, tailored services for refugees and immigrants. The resources include toolkits, such as the following:

Language Access (PDF - 299 KB)
Dettlaff & O’Grady (2015)
Center for Immigration and Child Welfare
Discusses Federal, State, and local language access policies and their effect on increasing access for linguistically diverse, child welfare-involved families.

Meaningful Ties for Transnational Families (PDF - 8,806 KB)
Southern Arizona Transnational Task Force
Provides a series of guidelines for judges, attorneys, and child welfare personnel working with children and families who are also navigating U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement cases.

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Domestic violence

ASISTA
Provides centralized assistance and resources to those advocating for noncitizen survivors of violence in the immigration law arena, including training for lawyers, domestic violence and sexual assault advocates, law enforcement personnel, and civil and criminal court judges.

Immigrant Crime Victim Access to Federally Assisted Housing [Webinar]
Violence Against Women (2017)
Describes government-funded programs providing immigrant victims of domestic violence and sexual assault with emergency shelter and housing.

Legal Information: Federal
WomensLaw.org
Provides visa information and useful resources for victims of domestic violence and crime. This resource also provides information about applying for victim assistance, refugee status, and asylum in the United States.

Refugee Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence: Doubly Vulnerable [Webinar]
Bridging Refugee Youth and Children's Services (2018)
Provides guidance to professionals working with immigrant children and youth who are also exposed to intimate partner violence. This resource defines the scope of the intimate partner violence before discussing unique cultural factors that may influence the efficacy of services to this population.

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Education

Partnering With Schools to Provide Safe and Inclusive Learning Environments for Refugee Students [Webinar]
Switchboard (2019)
Provides practical steps for working with school districts in order to proactively prevent bullying and respond to incidents of harassment among refugee and immigrant children. There is also a companion information guide.

Supporting Immigrants & Refugees During Remote Learning [Webinar]
Gardner, Salva, & Gonzalez (2020)
Seidlitz Education
Outlines challenges families may face during remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, including lack of internet and few multi-lingual resources as well as methods for helping families overcome these barriers.

Supporting Refugee Students and Families in Home-Based Learning
Switchboard (2020)
Discusses ways in which child welfare professionals can advocate for equitable linguistic and culturally-competent services for children and youth in schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two templates are also available to guide families in home-based learning.  

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Resources for immigrant families

Find Resources and Contacts in Your State
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Refugee Resettlement
Lists State-specific resources to support immigrant and refugee families.

USA Hello
Offers resources on education, employment, citizenship, and resettlement for immigrant and refugee families.

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