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Canada’s immigration goals are multifaceted and ambitious, reflecting both a desire to attract those who can contribute economically and culturally and offer protection to the displaced and the persecuted. Alongside these goals is a pledge that newcomers will receive the services and supports they need to fully integrate into Canada’s cultural and economic landscape. This chapter argues that post-secondary institutions, working in partnership with community organizations and primary/secondary schools, are well positioned to facilitate economic and cultural integration, particularly for otherwise vulnerable refugee groups. However, the authors’ previous research illustrates the many barriers refugee youth face in accessing Canadian post-secondary education. The authors hypothesize that efforts to increase post-secondary access – and, thereby, facilitate the accomplishment of immigration goals – will be most effective when specific age groups within the refugee demographic are targeted; in particular, younger children who have spent more time in the Canadian education system. This approach requires a shift in settlement practice from that of meeting only initial, urgent settlement needs, to one that enables the development of economic and cultural capacity. The authors envision a program that, on the one hand, helps refugees to value and gain the broad benefits of post-secondary education, while, on the other hand, directs post-secondary institutions to offer programs and pathways that are more inclusive to the unique challenges faced by this vulnerable demographic.

Purpose – The author examines how perceived risk, criminal victimization, and community integration affect the mental health of hurricane evacuees. His objectives are (1) to examine how perceived risk and victimization influence mental health in post-disaster contexts, (2) to analyze how social support and community integration mediate the effects of perceived risk and victimization, and (3) to expand the theoretical applicability of the stress process model by analyzing perceived risk and victimization as stressors under disaster conditions.

Design/methodology/approach – The author uses survey data collected from 303 evacuees of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita residing in FEMA trailer park communities in Louisiana. He estimates four nested regression models predicting depression and anxiety.

Findings – As a personal judgment of perceived risk, feeling unsafe consistently harms mental health net of residential instability and victimization. Social support and social integration buffer the stress related to personal judgments of perceived risk and residential instability.

Originality/value of paper – Findings necessitate attention to residential stability, social integration, and community involvement in mitigating perceived risk, victimization, and poor mental health in post-disaster communities.

To understand how people using community public mental health services conceptualize community and their place within it within the post-deinstitutionalization era.

Two hundred ninety-four service users completed structured interviews in two urban, outpatient, public, and community mental health facilities in the Northeast. Quantitative and qualitative responses to the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status, Community Ladder version, were analyzed to understand perspectives on community.

Mean subjective community status ladder score among participants was five (SD = 2.56). Participants identified four broad categories of definitions of community: geographic community; community related to social definitions; contributing to society; and mental health service-user communities. Explanations for the location of their placement on the ladder (subjective community status) include comparisons to self and others, contributions to community, and social relationships. There was also a set of explanations that spoke to the intersection of multiple marginalizations and structural constraints. Finally, we explore relationships among understandings of community and perceptions of place within community.

Community integration is a critical concept for community public mental health services, but little research has explored how mental health service users conceptualize their communities and their roles within them. Understandings of community are crucial to appropriately support peoples’ needs within their communities. Furthermore, participants identify mechanisms that facilitate their personal community standing, and these are areas for potential intervention.

In this chapter, Milena Ivova Ilieva describes the Roma minority in the education system of Bulgaria, where – according to data from non-governmental organizations working directly with the Roma community – the number of Roma people varies between 8-10% of the total population. The situation of the Roma community is characterized by its marginal position in the society at different levels, which stands out more clearly against the process of globalization. Ilieva shows the disadvantages in social situation and presents a general overview of the classification of the Roma Community about educational integration. She analyses the official statistical data and gives reasons for the low education level of Roma in Bulgaria and describes the policy measures for Roma integration after 1989. She concludes that at this stage of their existence, the programs which the Bulgarian State is trying to apply with regard to Roma, are not effective and do not conform to the specifics of the Roma community.

Multidimensional fit (MDF) has been coined as “elusive” and relevant to an individual’s social identity and self-concept, unfolding over time as individuals assess their fit relative to Person-Organization, Person-Vocation, Person-Job, and Person-Team Fit. In this chapter, the literature as it relates to the refugee employment journey, MDF, and HRM practices that facilitate or inhibit MDF is reviewed. Furthermore, in this study, the process-oriented view of the refuge path highlights the complexity of their experience, noting an array of antecedents as they relate to country, host country and individual differences, interventions through NGOs, refugee resettlement agencies, and organizations, as well as the less explored entrepreneurial path. These diverse paths and the process of finding fit, and the obstacles refugees face, are viewed through the lens of shocks and reassessment of MDF throughout their journey. Finally, the study’s outcomes illustrate individual wellbeing factors, organizational level benefits, as well as community level benefits to MDF.

This chapter delves into the education of Kosovo's Roma community, shining a light on the obstacles they encounter and the initiatives taken by the government to enhance their educational prospects. The Roma community represents just 0.5% of Kosovo's entire population and faces significant challenges with low literacy rates and high dropout rates, particularly at lower levels of education. Since Kosovo's independence proclamation in 2008, there have been institutional advancements and partnerships with local, central, and worldwide organisations to improve the education system for the Roma community.

This study aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the educational situation of the Roma community in Kosovo. It recognises their challenges and proposes practical solutions to accelerate their integration and improve their social, educational, and cultural welfare. Various analytical methods, including descriptive statistics and historical analysis, are utilised to conduct comparative and quantitative assessments.

The Roma community in Kosovo continues to encounter numerous challenges, such as economic hardships, lack of education opportunities, and early marriages that often result in school dropouts. However, research highlights the government's dedication to enhancing education conditions and enabling better access to the labour market for the Roma community through proper education and qualifications. Additionally, Kosovo's constitutional and legal framework safeguards the rights of all communities, including the Roma community, regarding education and employment with high standards.