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

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
Articles September 8, 2016 Dual Language Learners in Head Start: The Promises and Pitfalls of New Reforms By Keith McNamara	Multimedia August 25, 2016 Closing the Gap? The Role of Funding in Equitable Education for English Learners in the United States
Reports August 2016 Funding an Equitable Education for English Learners in the United States By Julie Sugarman	Multimedia August 11, 2016 DACA at Four: Estimating the Potentially Eligible Population and Assessing Application and Renewal Trends

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Reports January 2010 Protection through Integration: The Mexican Government's Efforts to Aid Migrants in the United States By Laureen Laglagaron	Reports November 2009 The Binational Option: Meeting the Instructional Needs of Limited English Proficient Students By Aaron Terrazas and Michael Fix
Reports October 2009 Immigrants and Health Care Reform: What's Really at Stake? By Randy Capps, Marc R. Rosenblum and Michael Fix	Reports July 2009 Is This Working? Assessment and Evaluation Methods Used to Build and Access Language Services in Social Services Agencies In Social Services Agencies By Laureen Laglagaron and Jessica Sperling
Reports June 2009 Taking Limited English Proficient Adults into Account in the Federal Adult Education Funding Formula By Randy Capps, Michael Fix, Margie McHugh and Serena Yi-Ying Lin	Reports March 2009 The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Recommendations for Addressing the Needs of English Language Learners
Reports October 2008 Regulating Immigration at the State Level: Highlights from the Database of 2007 State Immigration Legislation and the Methodology By Laureen Laglagaron and Cristina Rodríguez	Reports October 2008 Uneven Progress: The Employment Pathways of Skilled Immigrants in the United States By Jeanne Batalova, Michael Fix and Peter A. Creticos

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Audio

June 14, 2010

Migration and Occupational Health: Shining a Light on the Problem

This briefing focuses on migrants higher rates of on-the-job injuries.

Video

May 18, 2010

2010 E Pluribus Unum Prizes: Honoring Exceptional Immigrant Integration Initiatives

The 2010 E Pluribus Unum Prizes Award winners were honored for their exceptional immigrant integration initiatives at a ceremony in Washington, DC, on May 18, 2010.

Audio

January 28, 2010

Promoting Success on Both Sides of the Border: Binational Approaches to U.S. Immigrant Integration

This panel discussion provided a brief overview of Mexican immigrants in the U.S., the role and function of Mexican consular officials in aiding this population, and reviewed the structure and foci of the Mexican government's Institute of Mexicans Abroad.

Video, Audio

May 20, 2009

2009 E Pluribus Unum Awards

Award winners for the inaugural year of the E Pluribus Unum Prizes program were honored at a reception at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC in 2009.

Recent Activity

Reports

November 2016

A Study of Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes among African-Born Women Living in Utah

Resettled African refugee women may experience particularly acute complications during pregnancy, birth, and the child's early infancy. Yet health care-providers and policymakers may not be aware of the particular challenges that these women and their children face. This report, examining women giving birth in Utah over a seven-year period, compares perinatal complications of the African born and a segment of the U.S. born.

Reports

November 2016

The Nutritional Health of Young Refugee Children Resettling in Washington State

Refugee children are vulnerable to health and nutrition risks that can have long-term consequences for their development and well-being. This report examines the prevalence of malnutrition—from stunting and wasting to overweight and obesity—among refugee children from birth to age 10, using data from an overseas medical screening exam before they were resettled in Washington State between 2012 and 2014.

Reports

October 2016

Mental Health Risks and Resilience among Somali and Bhutanese Refugee Parents

Somali and Bhutanese refugees are two of the largest groups recently resettled in the United States and Canada. This report examines factors that might promote or undermine the mental health and overall well-being of children of these refugees, with regard to factors such as past exposure to trauma, parental mental health, educational attainment, social support, and discrimination.

Fact Sheets

October 2016

Immigration to the Heartland: A Profile of Immigrants in the Kansas City Region

The immigrant population in the Kansas City region has grown rapidly over the past 25 years, contributing to overall population growth in the area. This fact sheet describes immigrants in the metro area, examining their origins, industries of employment, income and poverty levels, English proficiency, educational attainment, and more.

Articles

September 8, 2016

Dual Language Learners in Head Start: The Promises and Pitfalls of New Reforms

The Head Start program—a model for early childhood education programs nationwide—has served more than 33 million children since its inception half a century ago, many from immigrant families. This article examines the role of Head Start in the education of Dual Language Learners, who now comprise one-third of enrollees, and discusses how recent policy changes may affect this population.

Video, Audio, Webinars

August 25, 2016

Closing the Gap? The Role of Funding in Equitable Education for English Learners in the United States

This webinar explores the key education funding mechanisms in place to support English Learner elementary and secondary students in the United States, public conversations about funding, and efforts to improve the equitable distribution of educational resources.

Reports

August 2016

Funding an Equitable Education for English Learners in the United States

With English Learners (ELs) representing nearly 10 percent of U.S. elementary and secondary students, many school districts are struggling to develop the capacity to meet the needs of children from immigrant and refugee backgrounds. This study provides an overview of supplementary funding mechanisms to improve EL outcomes, examining policies at state and local levels, and making recommendations for improvement.

Video, Audio, Webinars

August 11, 2016

DACA at Four: Estimating the Potentially Eligible Population and Assessing Application and Renewal Trends

Marking the fourth anniversary of the implementation of the DACA program, this webinar presents findings on the most current estimates of potential DACA beneficiaries, trends in requests and application rates, and discussion of recent policy and political developments.

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