Scottish Refugee Council is today launching a new guide for practitioners who provide support services to refugee families.
Scottish Refugee Council developed the guide in partnership with Edinburgh, Eilean Siar, Glasgow, Highland and North Lanarkshire councils through the Improving Lives of Refugee Families in Scotland project.
Based on the experiences of local authority resettlement programmes, and Scottish Refugee Council’s Family Keywork (read family keywork report) and other integration services (read integration service report), the guide provides a framework and a five-step approach to good practice in supporting holistic, whole-family refugee integration. It also features a range of good practice case studies, drawing upon recent, cross-organisational learning from around Scotland.
The new resource also includes factsheets on the rights and entitlements of refugee and asylum seeking families in Scotland.
An important theme in the guide is the direct involvement of refugees in developing and improving services. It also features examples of using peer support as an innovative method of achieving integration whilst promoting independence and personal development, including providing tailored opportunities for young people over 16, as well as highlighting the need to view community integration as a two-way process.
The case studies explore some challenges of supporting integration in areas of Scotland which do not have as many services as cities like Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Elodie Mignard, Scottish Refugee Council Programme Manager, said:
“Our aim is to support family practitioners to work successfully and effectively with refugee families, to build on families’ strengths and to support them to overcome and manage sometimes complex needs. Ultimately, our goal is for all family members to lead an independent life in Scotland and to be able to contribute to their new communities.”
The full practice guide and individual factsheets are available to download below:
- Full practice guide (pdf)
- Factsheet 01: Introduction (pdf)
- Factsheet 02: Human rights and equalities (pdf)
- Factsheet 03: Education (pdf)
- Factsheet 04: Employment and volunteering (pdf)
- Factsheet 05: Financial support (pdf)
- Factsheet 06: Health and social care (pdf)
- Factsheet 07: Housing (pdf)
- Factsheet 08: Access to legal advice (pdf)
- Factsheet 09: How to claim asylum (pdf)
The next stage for Scottish Refugee Council’s Improving Lives of Refugee Families in Scotland project is to develop family integration training, based on this new guide. The training will be developed in consultation with our local authority partners and will be offered to practitioners around Scotland later this year.
Find out more about the practice guide or training opportunities, by emailing Integration Development Officer, Katrina Allen: katrina.allen@scottishrefugeecouncil.org.uk
