Policy and Practice | December 2022

… (Instability) imbues systems with a sense of urgency and flexibility. More importantly, it also creates opportunities for introspection and introduces pathways for the strengthening of alliances.

cohesive structural development across all programmatic levels. On the essential nature of such part nerships, Mekibib remarks, “Thanks to the VCCI, and the trusting relation ships we have fostered over the years with all the key actors, we, as Fairfax Department of Family Services, have leveraged the platform to successfully manage the unprecedented emergency repatriation and refugee resettle ment activities under Operation Allies Welcome. The U.S. refugee system will benefit from such strong local partners to ensure that innovative approaches and promising practices are elevated to national, regional, and state elected officials and practitioners.” Capitalizing on Opportunities to Enhance System Alignment The worldwide implications of the 2021 humanitarian emergency cannot be understated, whether philosophical or practical in its conse quences. However, while having the potential to cause disruptions for those who are most susceptible, instability also imbues systems with a sense of urgency and flexibility. More impor tantly, it also creates opportunities for introspection and introduces pathways for the strengthening of alliances. Capitalizing on this renewed energy, the effectiveness, appropriateness, and accessibility of services must be evaluated relative to the high level of heterogeneity within the new arrivals’ countries of origin, including ethno linguistic and religious diversity, as well as educational variances. 6 The broader population of human services providers must also be offered more in-depth resources for understanding how immigration status and socio linguistic variables may interact with

the services provided. Moreover, as interdisciplinarity is at the core of systems modernization, and as it facili tates moving interventions upstream, cross-sector collaboration must be further encouraged to render systems increasingly reflective of the voices of beneficiaries and their providers alike. To this end, continued experimenta tion in cross-system and cross-level collaborations, as well as enjoining the perspectives of those with lived experience, would help systems better understand how to support refugee and immigrant beneficiaries across the breadth of health and human services. Ideally, any emerging part nerships would advance conversations beyond simply rectifying discontinui ties during the immediate post-arrival period toward the establishment of systems able to equitably support refugee and immigrant families well into the future. Reference Notes 1. https://reporting.unhcr.org/ donors-usa; https://reporting.unhcr.org/ donor-profiles?donor=GUSA 2. https://www.npr.org/ 3. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cuba venezuela-nicaragua-migrants-processed record-us-border-2022/ 4. https://immigrationforum.org/ article/legislative-bulletin-friday september-30-2022/ 5. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/about/ what-we-do 6. Afghanistan Education Equity Profile for Adolescent Girls. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) December 2019; https://worldpopulationreview. com/countries/afghanistan-population ; 2022/07/27/1113835454/taliban india-pakistan-afghanistan-us-ttp counterterrorism-earthquake-crisis

(VCCI), which unites a range of stakeholders. Daniel Mekibib, Fairfax County’s Assistant Division Director for Workforce Development shares, “The VCCI is a multi-agency platform created to educate local stakeholders on how the U.S. refugee resettlement system works, share crucial informa tion such as projected numbers of arrivals in a given period of time, and coordinate efforts to welcome and resettle them seamlessly. It brings together a wide variety of professionals including human services agencies, public safety, health, education, and others who regularly interact with the is insufficiently celebrated. Savvy local actors, such as local govern ment representatives, caseworkers, and community organizations are often the unsung heroes in cobbling together stopgap remedies for sup porting refugee families and needs not covered by existing programming. Nevertheless, it should not be incum bent upon local actors to compensate for systemic gaps, nor is it possible at the scale currently required. Therefore, promising practices in cross-sector and cross-level responses, such as the VCCI, could be docu mented for future replication. In this manner, and with the input of diverse stakeholders, responses can be made more reflective of the variety of systems with which resettled persons interface throughout all stages of their integration into the new country. Additionally, doing so would enable local knowledge to inform state and federal action, as well as more refugees in our communities.” Similar task forces around the country have either been newly established or reinforced where they already existed, and the extraordinary, combined work of public and private actors performed through these venues

Ukraine International Religious Freedom Report for 2019. United States Department of State, Office of International Religious Freedom

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December 2022 Policy&Practice