Educating the Community
Educating the community is an integral part of PIF’s approach to power building. Rampant misinformation and the lack of culturally appropriate educational materials have caused millions of immigrants to avoid vital support systems that could increase family economic stability.
PIF works with advocates and community partners across the country to share accurate, timely, and accessible information about public charge and immigrant access to public benefits programs. PIF supports partners by developing community-facing resources, trainings, and a peer network of community outreach and education experts to effectively get the word out and expand access to public benefits. Materials directed to immigrant community members and community-based organizations are available in up to nine languages and include customizable versions. Learn more about PIF’s community education working group, where you can partner with other community educators to share best practices and increase the reach of critical information to support families.
Immigration Attorney Outreach
PIF’s opinion research found that immigrant families trust immigration attorneys as authorities on questions of safety net programs and immigration. But while immigration attorneys understand immigration law, they often do not have a deep understanding of safety net programs. That’s why we worked on immigrant attorney outreach and education by creating the Herlinda Letter.
Herlinda was a health enrollment eligibility manager in Texas during the Trump administration – a time when fears of public charge and other immigration related concerns were driving mixed-status families away from safety net programs. When she learned that immigration attorneys were inaccurately advising the immigrant families she worked with to stop enrolling in safety net programs, Herlinda began reaching out to those lawyers with accurate information about the relevant program and the fact that it was not considered in public charge determinations.
Because of this energetic defense of her clients and fearless outreach to immigration attorneys, Herlinda was almost single-handedly responsible for the fact that, uniquely, her health center did not see a decline in enrollment during a period that saw widespread reduction in enrollment for immigrant families.
Inspired by Herlinda’s work in Texas, PIF created the Herlinda Letter so others can adopt her approach. This letter is a tool that community-based organizations can give to their clients when they say that an immigration attorney told them that it was unsafe to enroll – themself or even a family member – in a public benefit program. This tool is fully customizable to each organization and corresponding state programs. Active members can watch our Herlinda Project webinar in the webinar library.
