Providing mental health support
Literature on the mental health needs of refugees and immigrants with disabilities is limited. What we can recommend from the available information is that service providers working with these groups should:
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Promote greater respect and understanding of the needs of refugees and immigrants living with disabilities
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Facilitate full and equal access to services
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Provide programs and services, such as support groups and case management, which are targeted and culturally appropriate or safe for individuals
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Work to improve access to information
It is important for providers who assist immigrant and refugees who are living with disabilities or their family members to recognize and support the rights of these individuals (Lindsay et al., 2012). Many newcomers are unfamiliar with the system and may not feel they can obtain the support they need on their own. Service providers may need to collaborate with other agencies and connect immigrants and refugees living with disabilities to other resources to support their rights and help them access, navigate and understand these services (Lindsay et al., 2012).
Video: The problem with one-size-fits-all policies for newcomers with disabilities
With Dr. Yayha El-Lahib (Associate Professor, Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary)
So the one-size-fits-all programs do not work for immigrants and refugees with disabilities but do not also work for other immigrants or refugees in different categorizations. So on one hand, when we think about settlement needs, mostly we think about settlement needs based on the false assumption that people with disabilities require changing an entire system of support. Because the settlement sector has been structured based on the socioeconomic priorities, we need people to learn English so they can go quickly to the labour force, and this is why the LINC program was created, that's why employment services are a priority in the settlement sector. The question here begins to be issues of standards, for example, when we think about one-size-fits-all. And this is something I've been experiencing recently here with my work in different community organizations that asked me to support them in developing training programs for English language teachers who teach in their LINC programs. These organizations are having difficulties to accommodate English language learners with intellectual disabilities, with developmental disabilities. The first problems that we began to face occurred when we were faced with the fact that the benchmarks for the English test are a standard that everybody has to deal with. So those standardized testings became an issue that organizations are unable to even think about how they can accommodate because they are bound by these standards. And then that created another layer of complexity around the lack of preparedness within the system to accommodate those who are coming with various needs and to learn English. So all these issues become really challenging for those who are on the front line. On the one hand, there is a pressure for them to meet standardized systems and service delivery based on the requirements of funders or institutions but those standards are not constructed based on actual needs of different social groups.