| Abstract
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This research examines governmental and public sector collaboration within the context of immigrant and refugee resettlement. The recent arrival of large influxes of Somali and other secondary migrants into the cities of Portland and Lewiston, Maine, which led to the formation the Portland and Lewiston Collaborative Refugee Services Program, offers a unique opportunity to examine the nature and intensity of the collaborative process. Collaboration is particularly valuable in policy areas, such as immigration, which involve a number of diverse programs and, thus, offer many opportunities for forging partnerships and sharing resources and expertise. These service areas typically have distinct funding sources and differing mandates and priorities, and collaboration offers a viable mechanism for balancing the interests of all parties and stakeholders. The extent to which Portland and Lewiston, Maine, have succeeded in working collaboratively with each other and with local, state and regional organizations to integrate newcomer populations into their communities represents the focus of this research. The city of Lewiston, Maine, a small, homogeneous, primarily French Catholic community, with a population of about 35,000, found itself unprepared for the arrival of over one thousand Somali secondary migrants who had originated from a war-torn, pastoral, Muslim country in East Africa. Many of the newcomers spoke only limited English and held to the cultural practices of their native land. The city responded collaborating with the larger city of Portland, Maine, where for nearly three decades non-profit and governmental agencies have successfully resettled thousands of refugees and immigrants. This research, based upon a review of municipal documents; direct observation at orientation sessions and other meetings; interviews conducted with thirty-seven respondents, primarily members of the Collaborative suggests that collaboration was achieved by the cities of Portland and Lewiston. In the absence of comprehensive federal policies and guidelines for immigrant relocation and resettlement, it is hoped that this study of the collaboration between the cities of Portland and Lewiston may offer guidance and inspiration to community leaders and policy makers, as they respond to immigration and other rapid and dramatic changes and unanticipated events in municipalities, both large and small, across the nation.
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