Refugee School Impact (RSI)

The influx of an estimated 400,000 refugees to the US (100,000 Afghans and 270,000 Ukrainians) is unprecedented after WWII, marking a significant shift from an average annual intake of 25,000 refugees in the years prior to the Afghan and Ukrainian crises. An estimated 50% of newly admitted Afghans are children while around 90% of these Ukrainian refugees are women and children.  

In response to this surge, the Afghan Refugee School Impact—Support to Schools (ARSI—S2S) program and the Ukrainian Refugee School Impact (URSI) have been established. These programs aim to provide community-based and person-centered services to support the academic performance of eligible Afghan and Ukrainian newcomers and the successful integration of these children, youth, and their families into their communities. Funds are directed towards providing linguistically and culturally responsive support services. 

PHI Sehat Initiative partners with local education agencies (LEAs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) to provide support services to newly refugee students, youth, and families from Afghanistan and Ukraine, such as coordination of support services and activities that will foster connections for basic needs support, family engagement and empowerment, and youth engagement and development. Activities for ARSI—S2S and URSI include:  

  • Provide basic needs support to school-aged youth and their families  

  • Foster family engagement and empowerment  

  • Support youth engagement and development  

  • Support school enrollment  

  • Support capacity-building through participation in communities of practice to foster the sharing of information, best practices, and lessons learned 

  • ARSI—S2S provides support services to newly arrived school-aged children, youth, and their families from Afghanistan. Activities for ARSI—S2S include:

    • Provide basic needs support to youth and families, including:

      • Early childhood development for preschool-aged children, including in-home support services

      • Identification of community partners

      • Outreach and navigation to increase access to public benefits

    • Foster family engagement and empowerment, including:

      • Parent-child joint literacy programming

      • Language access

      • Parenting

      • Intimate partner violence education

      • Parental engagement in schooling

      • Recreational programming

    • Support youth engagement and development, including:

      • Anti-bullying programs

      • Mentorships

      • Culturally focused recreation

      • Tutoring and literacy education

      • Culturally responsive school staffing

    • Support school enrollment

    • Support capacity-building through participation in communities of practice to foster the sharing of information, best practices, and lessons learned.

  • URSI provides support services to eligible Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian children and their families displaced from Ukraine. Activities for URSI include: 

    • Provide basic needs support to youth and families, including:

      • Connect families with resources and services to address critical basic needs

      • Early childhood development

      • Identification of community partners

      • Outreach and navigation to increase access to public benefits

    • Foster family engagement and empowerment, including:

      • Parent-child joint literacy programming

      • Language access

      • Parenting

      • Intimate partner violence education

      • Parental engagement in schooling

      • Recreational programming

    • Support youth engagement and development, including:

      • Anti-bullying program

      • Mentorships

      • Culturally focused recreation

      • Tutoring and literacy education

      • Culturally responsive school staffing

    • Support school enrollment

    • Support capacity-building through participation in communities of practice to foster the sharing of information, best practices, and lessons learned