By Jenna Kellerman
A new LeadingAge resource can help you recruit refugees and asylum-seekers to work as professional caregivers in your organization.
Federal officials have set a goal to resettle 125,000 refugees in the United States this year, and more than one million asylum-seekers are also awaiting entry into the country. As providers of aging services experience a massive workforce crisis, many LeadingAge members are interested in learning more about building strong pipelines with this potential workforce.
But with incumbent staff stretched so thin, how can organizations find the capacity to prioritize developing this pipeline?
The good news is that you don’t need to start from scratch, and you don’t need to do this work alone. Several LeadingAge provider members have forged relationships with resettlement agencies, successfully hiring dozens of refugees. In addition, LeadingAge has a new resource to support providers as they explore the possibility of boosting their workforce by welcoming team members who represent a variety of refugee populations.
HIRING REFUGEES IN AGING SERVICES
LeadingAge recently released a new toolkit for members interested in hiring refugees. Download the toolkit here; it is also available, along with other resources, on the Workforce page at LeadingAge.org.
The toolkit explores:
- Who refugees are and their status within the United States.
- How the needs of refugees align with employers and employment opportunities.
- Resettlement processes and supports.
- How to hire refugees.
- Best practices for integrating refugees into your organization by creating inclusive environments.
- Local contacts and resources to help you hire refugees.
- The experiences of providers who have successfully hired refugees.
RESEARCH ON HIRING REFUGEES
The LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston has been studying the process of hiring and integrating foreign-born nurses and personal care assistants into the aging services field since it published Filling the Care Gap in August 2018. The LTSS Center study and additional studies from other research organizations outlined the benefits and challenges associated with this recruitment option.
Benefits of Hiring Immigrants and Refugees: The LTSS Center study found that hiring immigrants and refugees helped providers of aging services improve:
- Quality care, as evidenced by increases in resident care and decreases in physical and chemical restraint use, urinary tract infections, rehospitalizations, and pressure ulcers. (Note that there is limited research in this area.)
- Perceptions of immigrant workers among employers and care recipients.
- Team diversity and staff relationships.
- Recruitment and retention.
- Staff turnover. There is some evidence that foreign-born workers demonstrate more loyalty and experience less turnover than native-born workers.
Respect and Reverence for Older Adults: Refugees may come from cultures with a more innate sense of respect and reverence for the aging population, which can help build a caring culture within an aging services organization. A 2010 study from the International Organization for Migration notes that older clients perceived foreign-born caregivers “to be more attuned to client needs than native workers because of a deep respect and care for elders, which they perceived to be present in the cultural or religious beliefs of the foreign caregiver.” The caregivers interviewed during the study described their desire to listen intently, value, and deeply connect with the older adults they served.
Need for Support: An organization’s ability to retain team members who are refugees depends on its ability to support these new employees as they adjust to a new workplace and a new country. In a 2018 report, Refugees As Employees: Good Retention, Strong Recruitment, the Tent Partnership for Refugees and the Fiscal Policy Institute found that an important factor in achieving lower refugee turnover seemed to be that the employer made at least some effort to integrate refugees into the workplace. According to the report, the companies considered these adaptations to be small investments.
EXPLORE A NEW PIPELINE OF WORKERS
Refugees and asylum-seekers can be excellent additions to your team, and resettlement agencies are ready and willing to partner with employers to make it happen.
I encourage providers to explore this new pipeline in 2024. Start the process by checking out our toolkit on Hiring Refugees in Aging Services.
Want more information? Contact me at JKellerman@LeadingAge.org.
Jenna Kellerman is Director of Workforce Strategy & Development in the Washington, DC office of the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston. Read more about Jenna.