Elevating Refugee Perspectives about Access to Disability Services in Arizona
Project Description:
Project Intent: The goal of this project is to describe agency and legislative policies related to supporting refugees with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), and to understand the lived experience of refugees who interact with agencies and organizations or have had challenges accessing services.
Population(s) of interest: The broad and diverse population of refugees with disabilities in the state of Arizona, with a focus on Tucson and Phoenix, the primary resettlement areas. Our policy surveillance will focus on Arizona agencies and United States-wide policies related to refugees with disabilities. In order to gain information about the lived experience of refugees in Arizona, we will conduct outreach with refugee resettlement agencies and ethnic-based community organizations in Tucson and Phoenix. These populations are linguistically and culturally diverse, but we are prepared to conduct interviews with refugees who speak the following languages: French, Kikongo, Kiswahili, Lingala, Tshiluba, Burmese, Somali, Iraqi Arabic, Sudanese Arabic, Pashto, and Persian (Dari).
Project Activities: Project activities include the following: 1) Establish a Community Advisory Board to facilitate outreach, data collection, and oversight in regular meetings throughout the year; 2) Engage the Advisory Board and their networks in Group Concept Mapping to identify issues related to accessing disability services for refugees; 3) Learn from refugees with lived experience about their challenges accessing disability services, successful service connections, and opportunities for improvement; 4) Conduct Policy Surveillance at the Arizona agency level and legislative policies across the US states to describe processes, gaps, and best practices for full inclusion of refugees in disability services. These project activities will result in the following deliverables: 1. Final Comprehensive Project Report with Executive Summary; 2. Executive Summary in plain language with language translation (based on the languages of interviewees); 3. Specific issue briefs, as necessary. Deliverables will be disseminated on the ADDPC and Sonoran Center websites, in peer-reviewed journals, e.g. policy and health journals.
Keyword(s):
refugee, access, services, policy
Core Function(s):
Training Trainees, Performing Research or Evaluation, Developing & Disseminating Information
Area of Emphasis
Other - Cultural Diversity
Target Audience:
Students/Trainees (long or intermediate trainees), Professionals and Para-Professionals, Family Members/Caregivers, Adults with Disabilities, Children/Adolescents with Disabilities/SHCN, Legislators/Policy Makers
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Limited English, Other
Primary Target Audience Geographic Descriptor:
State
COVID-19 Related Data:
N/A
