Cultural Competency Secrets to Success with Immigrant and Refugee Families: Spreading and Adapting 2Gen Working Practices
Related Content
Highlights
Cultural tailoring is essential for U.S. two-generation (2Gen) organizations seeking authentic engagement with immigrant and refugee families.
- Organizations must tailor services to cultural norms—scheduling around festivals, dietary needs, and prayer space; and working through trusted community elders—to build authentic engagement and avoid turning families away.
- Wraparound services should address cultural stigmas directly. New York City's Arab American Family Support Center launched its Reclaiming Our Health program in 2018 to destigmatize mental health in Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (AMEMSA) communities.
- Staff should not assume shared culture based on country of origin or language; needs assessments and individual family engagement are essential, and hiring should reflect the communities served.
- Policymakers can scale culturally responsive 2Gen services by requiring language access plans in funding competitions, adopting state language access laws, and expanding parent-focused programs.
How can organizations ensure the services they provide are culturally competent and responsive, and what benefits do such services hold for immigrant and refugee families? This brief explores two-generation (2Gen) practices—interventions that work with both parents and children—that are rooted in cultural competence. It highlights two broad strategies that emerged from survey results, interviews, webinars, and peer advising and learning convenings: providing culturally tailored services, and recognizing and designing for cultural differences.
This brief is part of a set of four by the Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group, Migration Policy Institute, and Higher Heights Consulting that explore 2Gen working practices that serve immigrant and refugee families. The others look at approaches to building trust between service providers and families, serving families with different immigration statuses, and overcoming language barriers.
Table of Contents
Why 2Gen and Immigrant Families?
The Cultural Competence Secrets to Success Webinar
Working Practice 1: Provide Culturally Tailored Services
Working Practice 2: Recognize and Design for Cultural Differences
Policy Implications
Conclusion
About the National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy
The Center is a national hub connecting policymakers, educators, community leaders, and service providers with evidence-informed policy research, technical assistance, and data to advance effective immigrant integration at U.S., state, and local levels.
Related Content
