Politicizing Social Work with Undocumented Families

This research aims to map and strengthen politicizing social work practices with marginalized groups, particularly people without legal residence status. We take various ‘reception and orientation practices’ for undocumented migrants as research sites. Many social work initiatives with undocumented individuals are experimental in nature. They operate in a politically complex and unfavorable climate, often partly relying on their own resources, and are searching for ways to ensure both sustainability and political impact.

Following a mapping of political strategies used by different social work practices for undocumented people in Flanders and Brussels, we will conduct an action research project with four specific organizations. We will examine the impact of concrete political interventions at various policy levels and on the undocumented families involved. The knowledge gained will be disseminated through a phased and differentiated dissemination plan aimed at different audiences: primarily social work organizations working directly with undocumented individuals, but also social workers who regularly engage with this and other precariously situated groups, policymakers, and students/early-career social workers.