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The welfare reform legislation of 1996 significantly reduced noncitizens' access to public benefits. Research has indicated that welfare reform has had unintended "chilling effects," whereby even those noncitizens who remain eligible for benefits do not utilize them because of fear and confusion. Although refugees were exempted from the benefit restrictions for a certain period following arrival, recent research has suggested that they too may have experienced chilling effects. This study was conducted to more accurately determine whether this has occurred, through the use of time-series data for a sample of refugees who remain eligible for public benefits. The findings did not provide strong evidence that welfare reform has created chilling effects for refugees, although the possibility cannot be ruled out.

"Social work practice with refugees and immigrants requires specialized knowledge of these populations and specialized adaptations and applications of mainstream services and interventions. Because they are often confronted with cultural, linguistic, political, and socioeconomic barriers, these groups are especially vulnerable to psychological problems such as anxiety, depression, alienation, grief, and post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as concerns arising from inadequate health care. Institutionalized discrimination and anti-immigrant policies and attitudes only exacerbate these challenges. The second edition of Best Practices for Social Work with Refugees and Immigrants offers an update to this comprehensive guide to social work with foreign-born clients and an evaluation of various helping strategies and their methodological strengths and weaknesses. Part 1 sets forth the context for evidence-based service approaches for such clients by describing the nature of these populations, relevant policies designed to assist them, service-delivery systems, and culturally competent practice. Part 2 addresses specific problem areas common to refugees and immigrants and evaluates a variety of assessment and intervention techniques in each area. Using a rigorous evidence-based and pancultural approach, Miriam Potocky and Mitra Naseh identify best practices at the macro, meso, and micro levels to meet the pressing needs of uprooted peoples. The new edition incorporates the latest research on contemporary social work practice with refugees and immigrants to provide a practical, up-to-date resource for the multitude of issues and interventions for these populations"--

The authors establish three discrete varieties of research - supra-national, intra-national, and trans-national, and explores issues and examples within each. The format of this work helps readers learn how to define and distinguish each kind of research, then provides examples of applications of the three.