Supporting Immigrant Populations
Through research and teaching, professor David Hollister explores ways to better serve Minnesota's refugee communities
As Minnesota’s population becomes more ethnically diverse, social services must change to keep pace. David Hollister, professor of social work and director of graduate studies, believes those changes start with the School of Social Work.
According to the Minnesota Department of Human Services, as of 2007 Minnesota was home to at least 70,500 refugees, with 500 more relocating here from other states each year. Hollister researches how effectively immigrant and refugee populations adapt to their new lives in the state and the relationship between work, race, and welfare reform.
From 2002 to 2005, Hollister studied how readily Hennepin and Ramsey County immigrant residents transitioned from welfare to work. The goal of the study was to determine what obstacles immigrant and refugee populations face in complying with welfare reform requirements.
“The information we gather from these types of studies helps policymakers fine-tune their policies and programs of private social service organizations better assist refugees and immigrants with settlement and adjustment,” he says.
In 2008 Hollister and four graduate students studied unstable housing experiences in the Twin Cities of refugees and immigrants in five ethnic groups: Somali, Liberian, Hmong, Karen, and Oromo. The study concluded that refugees and immigrants face greater barriers in securing stable housing and are at greater risk for homelessness than non-immigrants. Further, many refugees who are classified as “precariously housed” do not meet the traditional definition of homeless and are thus ineligible for housing assistance.
To help prepare master’s in social work graduates to assist the continued influx of immigrants and refugees, in 2003 Hollister developed the course Working with Immigrant Populations, which he co-teaches each spring with a doctoral student who is either an immigrant or a student specializing in working with immigrants. This year the class was held at the Brian Coyle Center, located in Minneapolis’s Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, which serves primarily immigrant residents.
“This location enables participation in the course by the center’s staff and community members. With students’ access to the staff and residents, the experience is much more immediate,” he notes.
Hollister has also had a long-standing interest in international development. Recently he and graduate student Hoa Nguyen examined the effectiveness of microfinance programs in Vietnam. A small grant from the college made it possible for Nguyen to travel to Vietnam to collect data under Hollister’s guidance. They have presented papers on this work at conferences in Hong Kong and Bangladesh.
“Opportunities to discuss and engage with bright graduate students are stimulating and intrinsically rewarding. I love helping to train the next generation of scholars for their careers in social work research,” says Hollister.
Story by Brigitt Martin
