You are invited to attend a unique policy roundtable on the link between immigrant integration and healthy communities, featuring a dialogue between policymakers, service delivery experts, and representatives of refugee and immigrant communities.
The roundtable is hosted by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), a grantee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation’s statewide initiative, Healthy Together: Creating Community with New Americans. The Foundation has identified four social determinants of health that go beyond access to high-quality health care and healthy lifestyle: social connectedness; early childhood development; housing; and environment.
NCSL is convening policy roundtables to support immigrant integration and healthy communities in two areas selected by the Foundation: early childhood education and health promotion/prevention of health disparities. The policy roundtables provide an opportunity for policymakers to meet with refugee and immigrant leaders to identify local challenges and potential solutions in health and social policy arenas. The workshops highlight trends and promising practices at both the national and state level, followed by roundtable discussions focused on next steps for Minnesota. The project aims to increase knowledge of Minnesota’s public policymaking structure and processes among refugee and immigrant community members, leading to increased civic participation. The project also informs state and local policymakers on newcomer communities, their specific needs and priorities, as well as the assets within their communities to help address those needs.
Goals for this session:
- Highlight promising practices in refugee/immigrant integration within Minnesota related to the Foundation’s initiative Healthy Together: Creating Community with New Americans
- Discuss recent Minnesota health legislation and health policy changes and relevance for refugee/immigrant communities
- Learn about integration models identified by conference participants from other states and other countries
- Offer an opportunity for information dissemination and networking of a broad spectrum of state policymakers, nonprofit organizations, refugee and immigrant community leaders, and health care professionals
- Through the roundtable discussion, identify priorities and potential next steps for immigrant health improvements in Minnesota.
Limited space is available for this session. There is no charge to attend this briefing, but if you are interested in attending, please contact Dirk Hegen at NCSL: dirk.hegen@ncsl.org or 202-624-5400.