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Parenting in a New Land: Specialized Services for Immigrant and Refugee Families in the USA

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Abstract

This practice-based research study examines a US-based preventive services program tailored to immigrant and refugee families that have been subject to a Child Protective Services report. The model is the result of a collaboration between an immigrant serving community-based agency and a county department of child welfare services in a medium-sized city that has become a hub for refugee resettlement. A clinical data mining approach was used in an intensive examination of 15 families’ case records. This paper identifies family characteristics, service needs, and strength-based practices that emerged, offering recommendations for child welfare agencies and practitioners in other jurisdictions seeking to design strategies to strengthen their services for immigrant and refugee communities.

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Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank Shea Post Valverde, MA of the International Institute of Buffalo NY for her assistance. Without her assistance, this article would not have been possible.

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Correspondence to Filomena M. Critelli.

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Critelli, F.M. Parenting in a New Land: Specialized Services for Immigrant and Refugee Families in the USA. Int. Migration & Integration 16, 871–890 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-014-0359-z

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