ABSTRACT
This chapter describes an evolving program of family-focused interventions and services research with refugee families from Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosova in Chicago. This program has been conducted by a group of university scholars and community associates, including Americans, Bosnians, and Kosovars, who are engaged in a multidisciplinary approach to inquiry concerning service utilization, while helping refugees and the organizations that help refugees. A central focus of the work has involved multifamily support and education
interventions named CAFES (Coffee and Family Education and Support) that are based on the conceptual framework of Prevention and Access Interventions for Families. Preliminary evaluation analyses support the feasibility and psychosocial benefits of the interventions and distinguish characteristics of families based on their level of engagement with the interventions. Family interventions of this type are an underutilized but necessary means for addressing the suffering and difficulties of refugee communities. A mental health services approach focusing on issues of prevention and access provides a promising intellectual framework for building innovative, family-focused interventions and for learning more about how to help refugee families.
