INSPIRITUS
Identifying Root causes of Resettlement Barriers for Refugees
According to the United Nations, a record 100 million people had been forcibly displaced worldwide (May 2022). One of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to promote peaceful inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. Some of the threats to this particular area of focus include conflict, insecurity, weak institutions and limited access to justice. In February 2021, President Biden issued an executive order on rebuilding and enhancing programs to resettle refugees.
Based on current events happening in countries like Afghanistan and the Ukraine, how might we improve the resettlement process of refugees relocating to the U.S.?
View Our Final Report →
Refugees are migrants seeking entry from a third country who are able to demonstrate that they have been persecuted or have reason to fear persecution. Until recently, the United States was the world’s top country for refugee admissions. From helping those displaced by World War II to people escaping communist regimes during the Cold War, the United States has helped define refugee protections under international humanitarian law.
Based on our research we were able to identify federal, state and local stakeholders. Once we identified the local agency for Savannah, Inpiritus, we worked with Inspiritus to interview case managers, refugees and volunteers to provide insights on day-to-day experiences. By affinitizing their interviews, we were able to better understand moments that matter and uncover opportunities for innovation.
areas of focus
Experience Mesh
Our experience mesh map is a visual representation of the stories of all participants, contextualized across time to identify interdependent moments of how they connect to achieve the goal of helping refugees to go from surviving to thriving and resettling within the local community of Savannah, GA. The map can be read vertically or horizontally to uncover gaps and opportunities on an individual level to a collective level across all participants. The emotion scale helps identify key pain points in the journey to aid in re-imagining the services provided.
View the Experience Mesh in Miro →
Key Insights and Opportunities
Resettlement timeline
Resettlement partners are on a strict timeline for integration. However, often traumatized refugees feel rushed and overwhelmed by a checklist of to-dos once they arrive. In addition, some have previous exposure to the United States culture and lifestyle through media and have English language proficiency. This variance in the background, state of mind and experience means that some struggle to adjust, while others strongly believe in their ability to cope.
ANTICIPATING NEEDS and Retention
The uncertain timeline, volume, and funding for refugee resettlement has led to the loss of staff in the past. Resettlement partners end up serving and rebuilding the program simultaneously once things start again. Reducing knowledge loss, effectively collecting and integrating feedback, and repurposing materials from analogous groups, such as universities welcoming international students, could automate processes, anticipate needs quicker, and make certain parts of the process self-guided.
CULTURE, LIFESTYLE, AND BONDING
Resettlement partners often receive little to no information about the refugees' cultural norms and lifestyles. Resettlement partners don't have time to prepare volunteers/sponsors who may encounter differences in faith and social interaction norms. Combined with a lack of a strong refugee community and awareness about the crisis –bonding takes time, needs beyond core services have to be anticipated, and refugees have to adjust to sometimes wholly new environments, such as having furniture in the house. Refugees taking the lead in specific parts process would give them back the power to create their own life and provide a bonding opportunity for volunteers/sponsors.
Dependencies in Adjusting
Refugees often deal with multiple problems with dependencies, such as transportation, language issues, housing, childcare, and employment. The interconnected nature of the core services creates a lack of effort and follow-through in utilizing resources such as language classes if it means traveling to the class or needing help babysitting. Situational evaluation could help anticipate these dependencies and be more strategic in implementation.
FACILITATING WITH PARTNER SERVICES
Partner services such as healthcare only interact with refugees when an appointment is needed or on a transactional base. As a result, they are often unprepared to deal with issues such as language barriers, despite receiving funding. This unpreparedness puts an undue burden on case managers or volunteers/sponsors who often spend time facilitating processes such as making appointments or conversations with doctors even though they might not be familiar with refugees' native language.
VETERAN REFUGEES AND COMMUNITY
Refugees have to relearn social cues and feel a loss of community. More established centers have gathering places where refugees can help each other. Some refugees volunteer at resettlement agencies once they feel settled, while others start businesses. Partnerships with refugee-owned businesses, inspiring advocacy, and involvement from veteran refugees can help foster a sense of community and promote peer-based learning from even those newly joined but familiar with the culture and have English language proficiency.
RECRUITMENT, AND RETENTION
Media coverage motivates people to reach out actively during a humanitarian crisis. Volunteers and sponsors hesitate to commit due to feeling intimidated by the number of tasks and the time required to get involved. Rethinking the outreach process to inspire awareness and action, making it easy to get information and signup, and expanding the diversity of targeted audiences could automate the process and build a roster of people that can be activated as needed.
TRANSPARENCY AND OFFBOARDING
Refugees feel abandoned after the 90-day hand-off process; however, the reception case managers still keep tabs internally. Resettlement partners work to ensure refugees have a network of contacts, services, and information; however, the sudden reduction of communication creates a mismatch in expectations and experiences, and this network needs to be made more apparent.
SERV 747 Systemic Innovation for Service Evolution; Professor Craig Alun Smith Project Team: Ishita Das, Service Design M.A. • Martin Stasevich, Service Design M.A. • Vee Thakkar, Design Management M.A. + Service Design M.A.