Multiservice Centers in Chinese American Immigrant Communities: Practice Principles and Challenges

Abstract

In reaction to the fragmentation of categorical services, there has been a renewed interest in service practice in social work (Fellin, 1995; Figueira-McDonough, 1995; Halpern, 1995; Hardcastle, Wenocur, & Powers, 1997; Rothman, Erlich, & Tropman, 1995). Some current efforts to identify the optimal community practice models and program innovations include family support centers (Adams & Nelson, 1995; Weissbourd & Kagan, 1989), new-style settlement house/neighborhood centers (Husock, 1992; Smith, 1995; Videka-Sherman, 1992), and community-service centers (Specht & Courtney, 1994). Although the term community-based service delivery has generated much recent interest, social agencies in immigrant communities have used this approach for quite some time. However, because of the paucity of studies about multicultural issues in general and in agency practice in ethnically diverse communities in particular, knowledge about practice in culturally and ethnically diverse communities has been limited. Lum (1996), for instance, found that during the 25-year period from 1970 to 1994, only 8 percent of the 3,716 articles in the three major social work journals - Families in Societies (formerly Social Casework), Social Service Review, and Social Work - were related to multicultural issues. In their review of four major social work journals for articles on practice with Asian and Pacific Islanders (APIs), Fong and Mokuau (1994) found over a period of 11 years only one article that addressed the community as its practice focus. As the ethnic and cultural diversity of the United States increases, so should the knowledge about practice with different clientele. To provide services that are useful to different ethnic populations, social workers must understand the service systems that have emerged in the various ethnic communities. Furthermore, because the community provides a locale for solidarity among ethnic groups, all studies of agency practices must take place in the overall ethnic community context. This article discusses a study of social agencies serving Chinese immigrant communities in the United States. During the past two decades, multiservice centers have been established in many Chinese immigrant communities. These agencies have developed a practice model based on a culturally competent and integrated service approach. This article summarizes the experiences of three community multiservice centers that have been established since the 1970s in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City. In addition, this article explores the challenges that these practices face from the service perspective. Community Context Asian Americans were the fastest growing ethnic minority group in the United States during the past decade. The 1990 census reported that Chinese Americans, who numbered 1.6 million, were the largest subgroup among the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) American populations. About 70 percent of the Chinese American population are foreign-born, first-generation immigrants, who came predominately from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia. Chinese Americans are not evenly distributed geographically. About 60 percent of Chinese Americans live in California and New York. It was not until recently that some Chinese Americans moved to the Midwest and the South shortly after their arrival in the United States (Barringer, Gardner, & Levin, 1993). Chinese Americans also tend to be concentrated in large metropolitan areas. In fact, nearly the entire Chinese American population (97 percent) lives in metropolitan urban areas. New York City, Los Angeles-Long Beach, and Chicago alone account for one-third of the Chinese American population in the United States. In many major cities there is an area called Chinatown, where Chinese Americans settle; merchants open their shops; and families, relatives, and friends are linked and interact in various networks. …