Newcomers Integration Services Survey

With effect from 2022, a new civic integration system will apply in the Netherlands after passing the new Civic Integration Act (Wet Inburgering) 2021. Municipalities are now responsible for assisting newcomers who have to complete the civic integration process. After an intake, the municipality will draft a tailored Civic integration plan that determines which of the three civic integration Pathways the newcomer with a migration background will follow. Newcomers have 3 years after arrival to finish the integration process.

For municipalities to make informed decisions in light of their new responsibilities, it is important to know about all stakeholders who are offering integration support to newcomers in the city, and the quality of their offering in light of satisfying the full range of their clients’ needs. Utrecht City (municipality, Dutch: Gemeente Utrecht) commissioned the Refugee Wellbeing and Integration Initiative to analyze the organizational ecosystem of refugee-targeted services in the city and to report its findings for integration policy coordination purposes.

The main contribution of this research is to facilitate to Utrecht City optimizing its innovative and inclusive approach to co-learning and co-living by gaining data-driven and data-influenced multi-level insights of the reception centers surrounding areas and city wide.