Resettled Families, Reimagined Futures: Home Visiting at the Nexus of Loss, Growth, and Belonging

Background: This study examines the complexity of adjustment among resettled refugee and immigrant families with young children aged 0–3 years, focusing on the role of early childhood home visiting programs in supporting their needs.

Methods: Using a grounded theory approach, the study analyzed 16 qualitative interviews with resettled parents enrolled in home visiting programs in the United States Midwest. The study investigates how home visiting serves as a bridge during the adjustment process, promoting reimagined futures and new parenting approaches while navigating shifts in parental roles and redefined family dynamics in the United States. Two central questions guide this work: (1) How do home visiting programs support the evolving needs of resettled families with young children? and (2) Which program elements most contribute to family well-being and integration? In doing so, the study centered the lived experiences of resettled families as they parent, adapt, and build new lives in unfamiliar settings.

Results: Findings revealed two thematic categories: parental integration and community integration. Parental integration reflected the process by which home visitors facilitated a reimagined way of parenting for immigrant and refugee parents of young children and was comprised of three subthemes: Home visitors fill a social void for parents, Gaining a more expansive view of parenting, and Envisioning children's futures. Community integration reflected the process by which families began adapting to life in United States, developing increased self-efficacy as members of their new community and was comprised of three subthemes: Navigating services and daily life, School readiness, and Building independence, connections, and belonging.

Conclusions and Implications: Responsive early childhood home visiting programs remain a promising approach to supporting resettlement and integration. The results highlight how home visiting facilitated meaningful transitions for resettled families by addressing child development, parenting, and social support within culturally diverse contexts. Narratives from immigrant and refugee parents highlight home visiting as a critical system-level support in early resettlement.