Resource Finder

SupportGuide.org is a centralized resource hub designed to help service providers strengthen client support and community partnerships. The platform offers a searchable provider directory to connect clients with trusted services, an agency learning series featuring expert-led webinars, self-paced micro lessons, and a newsletter with timely updates and opportunities. SupportGuide helps organizations improve referrals, expand professional knowledge, and stay connected to resources that support newcomers, refugees, and diverse communities across California

The Partnership Planning Worksheet is a practical resource designed to help organizations clarify the services they provide, assess their strengths as community partners, and define their partnership needs. Through guided prompts and reflection exercises, users can develop a clear partnership pitch, identify potential collaboration opportunities, and strengthen referral and resource-sharing networks. Ideal for nonprofit organizations, service providers, and community groups, this worksheet supports relationship-building efforts that lead to more coordinated and effective support for clients and communities.

The Partnership Development Toolkit provides step-by-step tools, worksheets, and templates to help agencies identify service gaps, define partnership goals, assess organizational readiness, and establish effective referral relationships. Designed for service providers, nonprofit organizations, and community-based agencies, the toolkit includes partnership planning exercises, readiness assessments, outreach templates, referral pathway planning tools, and key questions to support successful collaboration. This resource helps organizations create mutually beneficial partnerships that expand access to services, strengthen care coordination, and enhance community impact.

This visual resource introduces the OARS framework, a core set of motivational interviewing skills that help build trust, encourage meaningful conversation, and support positive behavior change. The guide highlights four key techniques: asking open-ended questions, affirming strengths and efforts, reflecting what has been shared, and summarizing conversations to strengthen understanding and next steps. It is a useful tool for case managers, service providers, educators, and anyone working in client-centered support settings. Large Font Size: https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f48a24_e764d10fe9444eefa8511cb1a8d772b3~mv2.png Small Font Size: https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f48a24_b4a0abd0bdb646a0823457cd7c89ab08~mv2.png

This resource provides clear, up-to-date information about the public charge rule, including who it applies to, how immigration officials evaluate public charge cases, and the potential impact of receiving public benefits. It emphasizes that public charge does not apply to everyone and that benefits use does not automatically result in a green card denial. The guide also encourages individuals to seek trusted legal advice before making decisions about benefits and includes links to free and low-cost immigration legal services.

This practical guide helps organizations balance mandatory monitoring and evaluation (M&E) requirements with internal learning and program improvement goals. It offers strategies for identifying overlapping data needs, reducing staff burden, leveraging existing data sources, collecting client feedback efficiently, and creating sustainable systems for data collection and analysis. The resource is especially valuable for nonprofit and refugee-serving organizations seeking to use data effectively while maintaining compliance with funder expectations.

This resource provides an easy-to-use overview of six widely used data collection methods: document review, existing dataset review, individual interviews, focus group discussions, surveys, and observation. It outlines how each method works, the types of data it produces, typical costs, and key strengths and limitations, helping organizations select the most appropriate approach for evaluation, needs assessments, program improvement, and community engagement efforts.

Created by the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), this resource outlines important steps DACA recipients can take when a renewal application is delayed. The guide explains how to check case status, submit inquiries to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), seek assistance from elected officials, and access legal support. It is designed to help individuals maintain employment eligibility, understand their options, and navigate renewal challenges with accurate and timely information.

This Afghan Health Leadership Consortium training brings together national experts from Global Refuge, No One Left Behind, and PARS Equality Center to discuss current immigration policies affecting Afghan families. Topics include changes to Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs), refugee processing, humanitarian parole, travel restrictions, employment authorization, public benefits eligibility, family reunification, and legal advocacy efforts. The webinar is designed for service providers, community organizations, and refugee-serving professionals seeking to better understand policy developments and support Afghan clients navigating complex immigration and resettlement challenges. Provide your feedback on BizChat

This one-page resource introduces the core principles and practical skills of Motivational Interviewing (MI), an evidence-based, person-centered approach that helps individuals explore ambivalence and strengthen their own motivation for change. The guide outlines key concepts such as collaboration, empathy, autonomy, and change talk, while providing communication tools like open-ended questions, affirmations, reflective listening, and summarizing (OARS). Ideal for service providers, case managers, educators, healthcare professionals, and community partners seeking to foster meaningful, client-driven conversations.

The Self-Care & Community Care micro-lesson offers guidance on building sustainable practices that support both personal wellbeing and collective resilience. Designed for service providers, community leaders, and helping professionals, this resource explores the importance of managing stress, preventing burnout, and fostering supportive relationships within communities. Participants will gain practical tools for balancing their own needs while continuing to provide effective support to the individuals and families they serve.

The Importance of Documentation micro-lesson highlights the critical role that accurate, timely, and organized recordkeeping plays in human services and community support work. Participants will gain practical insights into documenting client interactions, tracking progress, maintaining compliance, and improving coordination among service providers. This brief training is designed to help professionals enhance accountability, support better outcomes, and ensure continuity of care for the individuals and families they serve.

Newsletter that shares community updates, announcements, and important information relevant to for California newcomers, and the caseworkers and community members who support them.

This Switchboard guide provides strategies for developing successful landlord partnerships that support stable housing placements for refugees and other newcomers. The resource covers landlord outreach, addressing common concerns about renting to newcomers, navigating housing barriers, providing tenant education, and maintaining long-term landlord engagement. It also offers recommendations for proactive communication, relationship management, conflict resolution, and strengthening landlord networks over time. Designed for housing specialists, resettlement agencies, and community organizations, this guide helps providers create sustainable partnerships that increase access to safe, affordable housing for newcomer families.

This Switchboard tip sheet offers practical strategies for refugee service providers and supervisors to build sustainable, trauma-informed practices that support both clients and staff. The resource explores how to establish healthy professional boundaries, apply client-centered and trauma-informed care principles, manage expectations, address compassion fatigue, and incorporate effective self-care practices. It also provides guidance for supervisors on fostering supportive team environments, promoting staff resilience, and creating workplace cultures that prioritize well-being. Designed for professionals working with refugees and newcomers, this resource helps organizations strengthen both service delivery and workforce sustainability.

Developed by Switchboard in partnership with the Society of Refugee Healthcare Providers, this checklist offers a structured framework for strengthening collaboration between refugee-serving agencies and healthcare organizations. The resource covers partnership planning, referral processes, communication protocols, confidentiality and data-sharing practices, cross-training opportunities, resource coordination, and ongoing evaluation of collaborative efforts. Designed as a practical planning and implementation tool, it helps organizations create stronger referral pathways, improve care coordination, and expand healthcare access for refugees and other newcomer populations.

This Switchboard webinar resource explores the foundations of client-centered practice in refugee and newcomer services. Participants learn how to place clients’ goals, strengths, and individual experiences at the center of service delivery while promoting autonomy, empowerment, and meaningful partnership. The training covers key principles of strengths-based, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed care, along with practical strategies for communication, goal-setting, referrals, and case management. Designed for frontline staff and supervisors, this resource supports more effective, respectful, and responsive services for refugees and newcomers.

This Switchboard resource offers guidance for foster parents, group home staff, case managers, and other professionals working with newcomer youth in shared living settings. The tip sheet provides strategies for setting household expectations, addressing substance use concerns with curiosity and compassion, assessing impacts on the living environment, engaging youth in problem-solving, and determining when additional behavioral health or support services may be needed. Emphasizing relationship-building, cultural responsiveness, and youth-centered support, the resource helps providers respond effectively while maintaining trust and stability.

This comprehensive toolkit from Switchboard helps refugee-serving professionals understand and communicate mandatory reporting obligations related to child and vulnerable adult abuse, neglect, exploitation, and safety concerns. It includes sample scripts for discussing confidentiality and reporting requirements with clients, guidance for responding to disclosures, trauma-informed communication strategies, and a curated collection of resources on mandatory reporting, family violence response, safety planning, and client support. Designed specifically for organizations serving refugees and newcomers, the toolkit promotes client trust while helping providers meet their legal and ethical responsibilities.

This Switchboard resource helps refugee-serving professionals navigate conversations about artificial intelligence (AI) with newcomers. The guide offers practical recommendations for introducing AI tools, obtaining informed consent, addressing concerns about privacy and accuracy, and ensuring clients understand their choices when AI is used in service delivery. Featuring sample scripts, common client questions, and a real-world case scenario, the resource supports ethical, client-centered use of AI while fostering trust and confidence in service relationships.

This resource from Switchboard outlines five actionable strategies for building and maintaining strong referral networks. It provides guidance on prioritizing critical referral updates, verifying partner information, choosing effective outreach methods, communicating clearly with community partners, and establishing routines to keep referral data current. The tip sheet is designed to help organizations reduce service delays, strengthen collaboration, and ensure newcomers can quickly connect with the resources and support they need.

This guide explains how business owners, managers, and employees can respond if immigration agents arrive at a workplace. It outlines legal rights and responsibilities, explains the difference between public and private workplace areas, provides guidance on reviewing warrants, documenting encounters, and complying with California’s workplace notification requirements, including employee emergency contact procedures. See this resource in Spanish here: https://business.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/ImmigrationAtYourBusiness-SP_GO-Biz-CalOSBA.pdf

This resource compiles key immigration-related tools, trainings, fact sheets, webinars, and employer guidance from California agencies and partner organizations. It covers topics such as workplace rights, immigrant worker protections, I-9 audits, anti-discrimination laws, employer obligations, and resources to support immigrant employees and their families. See this resource in Spanish here: https://business.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/EmployerResources-SP_GO-Biz-CalOSBA.pdf

This recorded webinar from Switchboard examines how refugee-serving and immigrant-serving organizations can use multimedia resources to enhance client learning, communication, and independence. The session highlights practical approaches for incorporating digital and multimedia tools into service delivery, helping newcomers access information, build digital literacy skills, and navigate services more effectively. The webinar is designed for service providers interested in leveraging technology to improve client engagement and support long-term self-sufficiency.

Developed by Switchboard, this planning resource helps refugee-serving and community-based organizations evaluate and choose technology tools that best fit their data needs. Through a series of guided questions, users can assess requirements for data collection, storage, analysis, visualization, security, reporting, and system integration. The worksheet also provides examples of common data tools, sample search terms, and considerations related to organizational capacity, privacy, accessibility, and budget, making it a valuable resource for teams seeking to strengthen their data and evaluation practices.