National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy

Policy Briefs

April 2024

Supporting Immigrant and Refugee Families through Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Services

Young girl talks to a child psychologist

iStock.com/Lacheev

Infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) services can offer vital support for young children’s healthy development. Yet, young children in immigrant and refugee families often do not benefit, due in part to lower levels of health-care coverage and limited cultural responsiveness in the field. This issue brief explores the benefits and barriers to supporting these children via IECMH services, and some ways to close key gaps.

Reports

January 2024

Refining State Accountability Systems for English Learner Success

A high school student answers a math problem on a whiteboard

Allison Shelley/EDUimages

State accountability systems are designed to identify and close student achievement gaps. Yet most do not report and interpret English Learner (EL) outcomes in a way that paints a full picture of how different instructional services have contributed to academic development. This report sketches a vision for reimagined accountability systems that can support better understanding of ELs’ learning and inform school improvement strategies.

Reports

November 2023

The Unmet Potential of Community Consultations in U.S. Refugee Resettlement

Young woman speaks to other participants at a meeting

iStock.com/SDI Productions

As humanitarian migrant arrivals in the United States increase, via refugee resettlement and channels such as temporary parole, communication between the national, state, and local actors involved in supporting their reception and integration is critical. This report examines the goals and design of quarterly resettlement consultations, as well as opportunities to refine these processes to boost their impact and relevance in a changing policy landscape.

Fact Sheets

October 2023

Recent Immigrant Children: A Profile of New Arrivals to U.S. Schools

Allison Shelley/EDUimages

A significant increase in the number of immigrant children in U.S. schools over the last decade has challenged K-12 educators to expand their capacity to serve students with different backgrounds and educational needs. This fact sheet sketches a profile of recently arrived immigrant children, presenting data on top states of residence, national origins, household characteristics, and more.

Policy Briefs

October 2023

Leveraging Data to Ensure Equitable and Effective Adult Skills Programming for Immigrants

Adult immigrant students work together in an English class

iStock.com/shironosov

Immigrants make significant contributions to the U.S. economy and social fabric, but many also face barriers to integration. Adult education and workforce development programs offer services intended to help address such challenges yet can be mismatched to immigrants' needs. This issue brief sketches a profile of U.S.-born and immigrant adults, highlighting key similarities and differences relevant to the design of adult skills programs.

Policy Briefs

July 2023

ESSER: Moving the Needle on Equitable and Adequate Education Funding for English Learners

4th and 5th grade students working on posters

Allison Shelley/EDUimages

The pandemic and move to remote learning affected students across the United States, and certain groups—including the nation’s 5 million English Learners (ELs)—were hit particularly hard. At the same time, the federal government made unprecedented investments in public K-12 education to counter the pandemic’s adverse impacts. This issue brief explores the ways school districts have invested these funds to support ELs.

Featured

English Learners and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) includes a number of new requirements for the education of English Learners (ELs), including standardized criteria for identifying EL students and inclusion of English proficiency as a measurement of school quality. Resources on this page can help inform decisions such as how quickly schools must improve and how states can intervene with struggling districts.

Featured

ELL Information Center

The English Language Learner (ELL) Information Center provides informative fact sheets, maps, and state-level data resources that chronicle the demography and trends of immigrant families and their children.

Recent Activity

Articles May 14, 2020 Immigrant Health-Care Workers in the United States By Jeanne Batalova	Fact Sheets May 2020 Barriers to COVID-19 Testing and Treatment: Immigrants without Health Coverage in the United States By Randy Capps and Julia Gelatt
Commentaries April 2020 As U.S. Health-Care System Buckles under Pandemic, Immigrant & Refugee Professionals Could Represent a Critical Resource By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix	Multimedia March 5, 2020 Green Cards and Public Charge: Who Could Be Denied Based on Benefits Use?
Multimedia March 11, 2020 Expert Podcast: Understanding How English Learners Count in ESSA Reporting	Policy Briefs March 2020 Which English Learners Count When? Understanding State EL Subgroup Definitions in ESSA Reporting By Julie Sugarman
Commentaries March 2020 The Public-Charge Rule: Broad Impacts, But Few Will Be Denied Green Cards Based on Actual Benefits Use By Randy Capps, Julia Gelatt and Mark Greenberg	Multimedia February 12, 2020 An Uneven Landscape: The Differing State Approaches to English Learner Policies under ESSA

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Reports November 2016 A Study of Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes among African-Born Women Living in Utah By Jane M. Dyer and Laurie Baksh	Reports November 2016 The Nutritional Health of Young Refugee Children Resettling in Washington State By Elizabeth Dawson-Hahn, Suzinne Pak-Gorstein, Andrea J. Hoopes and Jasmine Matheson
Reports October 2016 Mental Health Risks and Resilience among Somali and Bhutanese Refugee Parents By B. Heidi Ellis, Erin N. Hulland , Alisa B. Miller, Colleen Barrett Bixby, Barbara Lopes Cardozo and Theresa S. Betancourt	Fact Sheets October 2016 Immigration to the Heartland: A Profile of Immigrants in the Kansas City Region By Randy Capps and Ariel G. Ruiz Soto
Reports August 2016 Funding an Equitable Education for English Learners in the United States By Julie Sugarman	Policy Briefs August 2016 DACA at Four: Participation in the Deferred Action Program and Impacts on Recipients By Faye Hipsman, Bárbara Gómez-Aguiñaga and Randy Capps
Reports June 2016 Improving Education for Migrant-Background Students: A Transatlantic Comparison of School Funding By Julie Sugarman, Simon Morris-Lange and Margie McHugh	Fact Sheets April 2016 Immigrants and WIOA Services: Comparison of Sociodemographic Characteristics of Native- and Foreign-Born Adults in the United States By Margie McHugh and Madeleine Morawski

Pages

EventPH 2015.9.21 LeftBehind HowtheWellBeingof ChildrenisAffectedbyParentalDeportation

Video, Audio

September 21, 2015

Left Behind: How the Well-Being of Children Is Affected by Parental Deportation

A report release where authors discuss the effects of parental deportation on the children of immigrants, the related needs for health and social services, and U.S. policy responses to protect these children.

EventPH 2015.09.16 WhatsNewinFarmLabor ImmigrationandtheAgriculturalSector PhilMartin

Video, Audio

September 16, 2015

What's New in Farm Labor? Immigration and the Agricultural Sector

An expert discussion on the findings of the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) related to immigrants, along with an overview of farm labor in 2015 and discussion on how current and possible future immigration policies might impact immigrant workers in the agricultural sector.

Video, Audio

September 11, 2015

Growing Up in America: The Extent and Impacts of Discrimination on Young Children from Immigrant Families

On this webinar, researchers explore the types of discrimination that young children of immigrants may experience, the related educational, psychological, and social impacts, and recommendations for addressing discrimination.

Video, Audio

August 19, 2015

The Unauthorized Population in the United States: New Data Trends

This webinar examines recent trends regarding the countries and regions of origin for the unauthorized immigrant population in the United States at national, state, and county levels.

EventPH 2015.08.11 DACAat3 flickr steverhodes dacafordreamers

Video, Audio

August 11, 2015

DACA at Three: New Data on Potential Applicants and Analysis of the Renewal Process

On this webinar, MPI experts provide data on characteristics of the potential applicant pool for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and examine the rates of DACA renewals and adjudications. The webinar also focuses on some of the issues impacting the rate of renewals.

Recent Activity

Video, Audio, Webinars

April 24, 2023

Strengthening Medical and Mental Health Services for Unaccompanied Children in U.S. Communities

Marking the launch of a report by the American Academy of Pediatrics and MPI, this event examines unaccompanied children’s access to medical and mental health services post-release and offering recommendations for improvements.

Video, Webinars

April 19, 2023

Career and Technical Education as a Bridge to High School English Learner Success

This webinar, marking the launch of a report, looks at career and technical education programs and federal, state, and school district policies that support English Learners' inclusion in these programs.

Reports

April 2023

A Path to Meeting the Medical and Mental Health Needs of Unaccompanied Children in U.S. Communities

As the number of unaccompanied children entering U.S. communities has increased, many have faced barriers to accessing critical medical and mental health services. This report explores common barriers to care, promising practices for overcoming them, and strategies for strengthening services. It draws on interviews and focus groups with clinicians, social workers, and others working with this population as well as one-time unaccompanied children themselves.

Reports

April 2023

Unlocking Opportunities: Supporting English Learners’ Equitable Access to Career and Technical Education

Increasing equitable access to educational opportunities is a major focus for U.S. educators and others. For English Learners, the hands-on courses offered through career and technical education (CTE) programs can play an important role in helping them stay engaged in school, graduate, and get on a path to a career providing a family-sustaining wage. This report explores policies and practices to support their participation in CTE, as well as persistent barriers.

Policy Briefs

March 2023

Recommendations for the Task Force on New Americans

The Task Force on New Americans launched by the Biden administration represents an important occasion to deepen understanding of immigrant integration issues and to identify ways to address them. MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, which has long argued for the need to create such an office within the White House, has developed recommendations for the task force in key areas, drawing from its extensive record of research, policy analysis, and technical assistance.

Policy Briefs

March 2023

SNAP Access and Participation in U.S.-Born and Immigrant Households: A Data Profile

The U.S. government created the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps, to combat food insecurity. Under federal law, many lawfully present noncitizens in poor households are ineligible. This issue brief examines the size and characteristics of the population of immigrants with incomes low enough to qualify for SNAP and their eligibility for and participation in the program, at U.S. and state levels.

Fact Sheets

December 2022

The Skills and Economic Outcomes of Immigrant and U.S.-Born College Graduates

College-educated immigrants are more likely to have advanced degrees than their U.S.-born peers with college degrees. But their educational levels have not always translated into similar occupational gains: They are more likely to be overeducated for their positions. Drawing on PIAAC data, this fact sheet sketches educational characteristics, monthly earnings, skill underutilization, and job quality for immigrant and U.S.-born college graduates alike.

Policy Briefs

December 2022

Four Strategies to Improve Community Services for Unaccompanied Children in the United States

For unaccompanied children leaving federal custody to live with parents or other sponsors, the transition into U.S. communities can be a difficult one. And although a patchwork of services exist to help these children and to address medical, mental health, and other needs, their capacity varies widely by location. This issue brief explores promising practices for improving these critical forms of support.

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