CIVIC-PG: Track B: Improving integration of Ukrainian refugees in the US through equitable housing services

Iowa State University, Ames IA

Investigators

Abstract

With the World Bank estimating that there will be over 140 million global climate refugees by 2050, it is imperative that scholars and practitioners develop flexible and scalable refugee integration models. The US government has responded to contemporary external displacement resulting from Russian aggression in Ukraine by announcing a policy of accepting 100 thousand refugees. This trans-disciplinary project across political science, anthropology and engineering will analyze the determinants of Ukrainian refugee integration in the Midwest region, a critical facet of which is the refugee housing services. Refugee housing provides the foundation for stability and a return to normalcy, but is often substandard and underfinanced. Despite initially supportive public sentiment towards displaced Ukrainians, numerous contextual factors (e.g., minimal federal funding, varied concentrations of Ukrainian-heritage communities, transitory news cycles, national identity, cultural and political divisions) suggest significant geographic and temporal variation in refugee housing. These characteristics outline the need to identify flexible decision-making tools that could facilitate the provision and management of housing in ways that best benefit refugees while also adapting to constraints. The dynamic character of this crisis is in keeping with the logic of CIVIC because it bridges the gap between essential resources/services and community needs and requires a short timescale. The project goal of assessing the role of housing on Ukrainian refugee integration will be aided through co-production of knowledge with refugees and genuine civic partnerships with refugee organizations. Key questions to be analyzed include: (1) What is the current state of practice of housing services in the Midwest (Stage 1) and US (Stage 2) for Ukrainian refugees? (2) Which housing services improve or impede refugee integration and identity in the Midwest (Stage 1) and US (Stage 2)? (3) What is a flexible decision-making framework and tool to accommodate high-flux refugee populations (Stage 2)? This study will utilize the collaborative, capacity-building, and empowering approach of community-based participatory research (CBPR). We will interview 40 refugees and 10 refugee organizations in the Midwest (Stage 1), followed by a regionally diverse national study in which we will interview 50 refugees and 20 refugee organizations from each of four regions (Stage 2). This study provides a framework to understand how encounters with housing organizations and local communities define refugees’ position in US civil society. This project is in response to the Civic Innovation Challenge program—Track B. Bridging the gap between essential resources and services & community needs—and is a collaboration between NSF, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Energy. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.