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Qingwen Xu, PhD, Graduate School of Social Work, Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Avenue, McGuinn Hall, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, 617-552-1634, xuq@bc.edu and Julian Chow, PhD, School of Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley, 120 Haviland Hall #7400, Berkeley, CA 94720-7400.
The Personal Responsibility Act of 1996 imposes a 5-year limits and work requirement on receiving public assistances, Medicaid, and food stamps for welfare recipients. Due to difficulties inherent in adjusting to a new society, such requirements specified in the legislation make it difficult for immigrants and refugees to successfully transition from welfare to work. Focusing on a community empowerment perspective, this study explores the psychological impact of welfare benefit termination on Asian immigrants and refugees. Three focus groups (Chinese, Vietnamese, and Pilipino each) of welfare recipients in Northern California have been conducted. Findings show that benefit termination could produce long-term financial hardship that leads to psychological distress for immigrants and refugees. Losing benefits is associated with severe community concerns including family stress, domestic violence, and adolescent substance abuse. Also, the close network between individual immigrants and their communities raises special difficulties for Asian immigrants to seek mental health services. Recognizing that immigrant communities could provide a strong support in helping Asian immigrants to cope with their mental problems, this study suggests that the immigrant community should be the service unit, instead of individual immigrant and refugee per se. Welfare to work programs should target the overall well-being of the community, as well as community°¦s role in the process of migration. Comprehensive services for immigrants and refugees are needed in order to increase the mental health service°¦s accessibility and effectiveness for Asian immigrants.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.