Launching New Projects to Support Refugees
The Sonoran Center is excited to announce three new projects focused on improving supports for refugees with disabilities in Arizona. The refugee studies team is led by co-Principal investigators Jacy Farkas, PhD, the director of the Sonoran Center, and Julie Armin, PhD, an assistant professor with the Department of Family and Community Medicine (FCM) and affiliated faculty with the Sonoran Center. The team also includes co-investigators Sommer Aldulaimi, MD and Suzanne Teeple, JD, who direct the Tucson Family Advocacy Program and Refugee Health Program through FCM. Bailey Lockwood, a former Sonoran Center trainee, serves as research coordinator for the projects. Additionally, the team has recruited two Sonoran Center Diversity Fellows to support project activities, undergraduate student Srishti Rajeev and graduate student Dora Le.
The refugee-focused projects emerged from a 2024 Sonoran Center report, Elevating Refugee Perspectives about Access to Disability Services in Arizona. Funded by the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council (ADDPC), this report explored barriers to accessing services for refugees with disabilities and their families and provided a roadmap for improving supports. Drawing on these findings, the Sonoran Center’s refugee-focused projects share a common goal: Building systems- and individual-level capacity to increase access to the services that refugees with disabilities need.
The research team has engaged several disability- and refugee-serving organizations to improve supports for refugees with disabilities. These include two internationally recognized refugee-serving organizations, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), and a local disability-serving organization, Encircle Families. Our team is also supported by the statewide Arizona Refugee Disability Roundtable, which provides networking opportunities and feedback on project activities.
Below is a brief description of each refugee-focused project at the Sonoran Center:
USCRI Learning Collaboration (July 2025 - August 2026)
Funded by the Honda USA Foundation and the WITH Foundation ($36,500)
The refugee studies team is working with USCRI to build knowledge and capacity among refugee-serving professionals to support refugees with disabilities. They are collaborating with USCRI to develop, implement, and evaluate disability-focused trainings across USCRI’s national network of service providers. This fall, the Sonoran Center is hosting seminar-style Learning Communities for USCRI case managers and program coordinators. Using a combination of online training and interactive case study discussions, the Learning Communities aim to educate refugee-serving staff on culturally sensitive, person-centered strategies for supporting people with disabilities. Additionally, the research team is creating disability-focused trainings for USCRI-affiliated healthcare providers. The team plans to deliver these trainings to a cohort of health professionals in Spring 2026.
IRC Training Partnership (July 2025 - August 2026)
Funded by the Peter and Pat Hirschman University-Community Research Partnership Fund ($10,150)
The research team has also partnered with IRC Tucson to conduct trainings and build linkages among refugee- and disability-serving professionals in Arizona. In Spring 2026, the Sonoran Center will facilitate disability-focused trainings first with IRC staff, and later with refugees with disabilities and their families who are IRC clients. Delivered in partnership with Encircle Families, the trainings will focus on strategies for navigating the disability service system, accessing supports, and advocating for equitable care (e.g., ensuring that appropriate translation services are available during appointments). Refugees with disabilities and their families will also have the opportunity to learn more about their rights in the United States, including accessibility protections and public services for people with disabilities. Additionally, IRC plans to host a refugee-focused training for Encircle Families and other key disability-serving organizations in Arizona. Through these trainings, the Sonoran Center aims to offer a space for disability- and refugee-focused organizations to build linkages and empower dialogue in support of refugees with disabilities. The research team also plans to conduct structured evaluation interviews to assess participants’ utilization of the skills and knowledge from the trainings. The findings from this evaluation will inform plans to develop a statewide Developmental Disabilities (DD) Navigator position. The DD Navigator would serve as a formal liaison and advocate for refugees with disabilities in Arizona (see below).
Exploring the Potential of a DD Navigator in Arizona (October 2025 - November 2026)
Funded by the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council ($35,000)
Finally, the Sonoran Center has received funding from the ADDPC to explore the role of a dedicated DD Navigator to support refugees with disabilities and their families. The research team has planned several activities to assess the professional scope, context, responsibilities, and sustainability of a potential DD Navigator position in Arizona. As part of this work, the Sonoran Center is partnering with the Northern Arizona University Center for Community Health and Engaged Research (CHER) to explore the possibility of engaging community health workers as DD Navigators. Working with several students from the Sonoran Center, the research team plans to complete an environmental scan of national and state policies that would support the implementation of a DD Navigator. Additionally, we will conduct a statewide needs assessment to identify barriers and facilitators to training CHWs as DD Navigators. The deliverables from this formative research (policy brief, needs assessment report, disability-focused resource guide for CHWs) will support future funding proposals to formally pilot a DD Navigator position in Arizona.
If you have any questions about these projects or the Sonoran Center’s refugee-focused work, please feel free to contact us:
Co-Principal Investigators:
Julie Armin, jarmin@arizona.edu
Jacy Farkas, jkbell@arizona.edu
Project Coordinator:
Bailey Lockwood, baileylockwood@arizona.edu