INSPIRE (Innovative Support Program for Immigrant and Refugee Empowerment)

INSPIRE serves immigrants and refugees with extensive healthcare needs, including developmental and intellectual disability, through intensive case management and occupational therapy supports.  

Key Facts:

• Number of clients served annually: about 70
• INSPIRE has developed country primers on disabilities to educate providers working with refugees and immigrants with disabilities. The primers highlight what education and services were available to people with disabilities in specific countries of origin, including Afghanistan, Bhutan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Mexico, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Syria.
• INSPIRE utilizes a cross-collaborator approach to care, featuring intensive case management and occupational therapy.  
• Program participants were featured in the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University project, We Will Talk About These Days, a collection of interviews about living with disability while navigating a pandemic.

Services Provided:

Intensive Case Management:  

• Promotion of self-sufficiency through goal-centered service plans. 
• Coordination with medical and mental health providers. 
• Coordination and advocacy with school and educational supports. 
• Advocacy and linkage to supportive services, including Social Security benefits, Medical Assistance transportation, Disability supports, and waiver services. 

Occupational Therapy: 

• Partners with Jefferson University's Department of Occupational Therapy to provide services. 
• Interventions designed to facilitate skills development and promote participation in everyday meaningful activities(occupations). 
• Implementation of group and individual client-centered interventions that aim to achieve general goals of participation in meaningful, health-promoting daily work; home management; community and self-care activities.

Eligibility notes: ORR eligible or any Limited English Proficient individual with an intellectual or developmental disability. 

Email us INSPIRE@nscphila.org with any questions.