There is a need for substantive technology investments in sector infrastructure. This includes the need to support the technology training of staff. The future of the settlement sector is one where its digital face will expand. Still, the nature of settlement, in the absence of a pandemic, is one where service will largely continue to be public facing. The sector’s strength is centred in its embeddedness in community with a workforce largely of immigrant background.
Sharing agency experiences of operating under COVID-19, including challenges and best practices, is important. For this to be effective the culture of the sector requires a shift to one featured by an ethic of “sharing without fear or competition”. This requires a move away from past neoliberal approaches to agency operations imposed by government funders stressing the values and practices of agency competitiveness and lean funding models.
We must recognize the dual role of the non-profit sector in providing both services and advocacy. The advocacy function is critical for the settlement sector because it provides voice to immigrants from a social justice vantage point. The inequities unveiled by COVID-19 can be articulated by settlement agencies promoting policy and programming reforms and supports.
As the settlement sector shape-shifts to the ‘new normal’ in the post-COVID-19 world there will be a struggle to define what that reality will look like. Will it be shaped by another round of neoliberal austerity or will the crisis pave the way to a ‘progressive opening’ to address the glaring inequalities made evident by the pandemic? A progressive policy agenda will only be actualized through a strong sector advocacy role.