Belonging for Immigrants and Refugees with Disabilities (BIRD)

There are over 50 million immigrants and refugees in the U.S., and more than one in four Americans have some type of disability, with the prevalence increasing among refugees. Disabilities create significant obstacles that impact social participation, daily living, and health conditions across the entire lifespan from infants to senior citizens. Immigrants and refugees with disabilities experience limited access to academic, mental health, and community-based support. They also face challenges in social engagement and securing a sense of belonging, difficulties in achieving meaningful educational and employment outcomes after high school, and increased stress and discrimination. Asian, Hispanic, and Black immigrant communities experience systemic barriers as they navigate the public and mental health care systems due to the lack of culturally tailored support to address stigma, language, and limited awareness around disability and related services.

This project will establish a multi-disciplinary community-driven initiative, Belonging for Immigrants and Refugees with Disabilities (BIRD), in partnership with the Maryland Equity Coalition for People with Disabilities, which comprises 39 grass-roots organizations that interact with immigrants and refugees with disabilities (IRD), including immigrants whose children are U.S. citizens with a disability, immigrants who have disabilities themselves, and immigrants with immigrant children who have disabilities. The Equity Coalition’s work is guided by Cultural Navigators (CNs), individuals who serve as the bridge between school and service systems to increase access to resources for immigrant and refugee families. CNs reduce disparities in access to disability services as cultural translators, advocates, trust builders, community educators, and system navigators. The short-term goal of BIRD is to: (1) provide direct services through interventions from early childhood to postschool support for IRD students and families; (2) train individuals with lived experiences to serve as CNs to increase service access for IRD students and families; and (3) develop and sustain a 1-year certificate program to engage students in community-driven research and fieldwork to improve research to practice gaps. The long-term goal is to utilize data to drive legislative changes in educational and healthcare systems that address structural inequities by implementing a sustainable, statewide, cross-disciplinary CN model. This will involve partnering with state and county agencies to access and analyze service enrollment data and identify access gaps for marginalized communities.

BIRD will implement community-driven programs for IRD from early childhood to seniors, from parents, families, and intergenerational communities to postschool transition and policy advocacy. These programs will offer “wraparound” services equipping IRD with knowledge, skills, and tools to access school, state, and federal service systems that are otherwise not accessible through a single program. Leading the field in this endeavor, BIRD will establish a centralized direct service resource center, offering a network of services that will holistically provide interventions across the lifespan. BIRD will invest in UMD students through a multidisciplinary certificate program, and will partner with state leaders to manage data and make direct changes in policies, amplifying UMD’s research, teaching, learning, and service.