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The Building the New American Community Project is an effort to foster and identify the elements of successful integration - to understand what that means, what works, what doesn't work, and why. The 3-year initiative, funded by the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement, is a response to the increasing diversity of refugees and immigrants in the United States, recent settlement patterns to "nontraditional" receiving communities, and the devolution of responsibilities for refugee and immigrant support services from federal to state government.

Four principles underlie this Project's concept of successful integration:

1. Integration is a two-way process that benefits both newcomers and the receiving communities;
2. The local coalition should involve a public-private partnership that reaches across levels of government and includes a broad array of nongovernmental organizations;
3. Refugees and immigrants should be involved in decision-making; and,
4. Specific interventions should lead to systemic change that will improve refugee/immigrant integration.

Coalitions in three sites have been awarded funding to create, implement, and assess their own local integration projects. Each site will also benefit from research, assessment, and technical assistance provided by the National Partners. In each of the sites - Lowell, Massachusetts, Nashville, Tennessee and Portland, Oregon - civic participation was identified a common, critical element. Each site also has a unique and innovative approach to the integration of their refugee and immigrant populations. Lowell, for example, emphasizes leadership and access to jobs for newcomers. Nashville focuses on workforce and business development. In Portland, established refugees mentor those who have arrived more recently by tapping neighborhood associations.

Although funding is limited to three demonstration sites, the project has also launched a public discussion group to share lessons learned from the demonstrations and to encourage national discussion among other interested communities about promising practices, needed research, and convening/networking opportunities.

"Building the New American Community" is a partnership of five organizations. The National Conference of State Legislatures' Immigrant Policy Project serves as the overall project manager and coordinates the research and technical assistance activities. The Urban Institute and the Migration Policy Institute comprise the research and analysis team. The National Immigration Forum and the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center serve as the technical assistance team. Approximately 90 percent of the full project budget is federally-funded. "Building the New American Community" is underwritten by an award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement.

For more information, please contact: Ann Morse at 202-624-5400

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