Transformative Service Initiatives: Enabling Access and Overcoming Barriers for People Experiencing Vulnerability

Abstract

Transformative service initiatives (TSIs) refer to activities by organizations (public, private, nonprofit) or volunteers to serve people experiencing vulnerabilities, including long-term challenges (e.g., refugees, homeless people, undocumented immigrants, ex-convicts) and try to improve their well-being. To advance the concept of TSI, this study proposes a 3A (Awareness, Alignment, Access) Integration Process Framework that can facilitate empirical tests of whether participation in TSIs affects people’s access to critical services. The empirical evidence affirms a positive influence of TSI participation on two TSR outcomes (application and access to higher education), according to data from a longitudinal study of 2,068 refugees (Study 1) that relies on propensity score matching and regression analysis. Study 2 uses qualitative data from six focus groups and identifies 16 barriers to successful refugee integration; it also identifies four individual strategies to overcoming those integration barriers. From academic and public policy perspectives, the findings demonstrate that efforts to plan and implement TSIs should follow a stepwise process to achieve the intended transformative outcomes. These findings can help academic, public policy, and civil society actors design and implement TSIs in various contexts to benefit people experiencing vulnerability.