Links and Documents

An Enquiry into the Delivery of ISAP Settlement Services to the Black/African Community in Peel/Halton Region

(Adobe Acrobat PDF)

This study documents the settlement issues facing black/African newcomers in the Peel/Halton region, and the capacity of settlement agencies in Peel/Halton region to meet their needs. The report identifies and recommends a service delivery model to better serve this client group.

Participants of the study consisted of landed immigrants who have been in the country for less than five years and refugees; sixteen Language Instruction for Newcomers (LINC) agencies and 6 settlement agencies which receive funding from the Immigration Settlement and Adjustment Program (ISAP).

Data collection was two dimensional: one dimension involved service seekers and consisted of case file analysis to determine the kinds of issues to address; survey questionnaire to document needs; and, focus group discussions to further understand these needs. Participants were recruited through key community people, language learning centers and agencies that serve newcomers, and the networking sampling technique. The other dimension involved service providers and consisted of filling out a key informant questionnaire by ISAP funded settlement and LINC agencies. Data analysis was both quantitative and qualitative. Findings from all the different data collection techniques have been integrated and reported in one narrative.

Recommendations:

1. That there should be culturally and linguistically sensitive ISAP settlement services that specifically address the needs of black/African newcomers through a well established settlement service agency. This agency would also act as a clearing house of information related to community-specific needs of black/Africans as well as act as a referral point for other agencies who find it hard to articulate the needs of black/African newcomers and to formulate ways of overcoming service delivery challenges.
2. The needs and issues facing this community call for an integrated as opposed to an anecdotal settlement service delivery approach with a corresponding allocation of resources.
3. Small newcomer communities continue to be marginalized in the allocation of resources even though they may be the least established communities and therefore have the most settlement needs. It is therefore, strongly recommended that community need be included as a compelling factor in the allocation of resources.
4. That funding agents work with the black/African community in determining how best their settlement needs could be met.
5. That decisions on how best the settlement needs of black/African newcomers should be met be made with collaboration and input from the community.

Format - This document is available for download in Adobe® Acrobat format [109K].

Language - English

Additional Information

African Community Services, 3461 Dixie Rd., Suite 504, Mississauga, ON, L4Y 3X4, Tel: 905-206-9497, Fax: 905-206-9052, Email: acsp@netrover.com