Resettlement Education Case Managers’ Roles Supporting Refugee Families With Children With Disabilities

Abstract

Refugees have been resettling in the United States for decades, but there has been little attention in the special education literature to this population. The existing literature notes numerous systemic barriers refugee families and professionals who work with them encounter but has not investigated the roles of professionals in refugee resettlement agencies in supporting families who have children with disabilities. In this study, we used semi-structured interviews to explore in resettlement education case managers (ECMs) the roles and experiences of assisting refugee families to access special education. Our findings revealed that ECMs provided intensive support to newly resettled families by educating them on the special education process, connecting them with supports, and sharing information about disability characteristics. Implications for research and practice are also provided.