One entry point. One coordinated pathway. One place to belong.
A practical blueprint for building one-stop-shop services that connect legal support, housing, healthcare, language learning, childcare and employment into a single, coherent journey for refugees from Ukraine — and for anyone navigating a fragmented support system.
A reference for everyone shaping the support system
The Blueprint isn't meant to be read cover to cover. It's built so each type of reader can go straight to what matters for their role.
Frontline professionals
Case managers, social workers, employment counsellors, psychologists, legal advisers, interpreters and intercultural mediators working directly with people day to day.
Start with the service pathway and the toolkit
Service providers & organisations
NGOs, public employment services, municipalities, education, healthcare and psychosocial providers, and social-economy organisations delivering the work on the ground.
Start with the service model and implementation plan
Public authorities & policymakers
Local, regional and national bodies designing or strengthening coordination mechanisms, governance structures and funding frameworks.
Start with governance, sustainability & funding
Wider ecosystem partners
Employers, social enterprises, refugee-led organisations and community actors who contribute knowledge, opportunities and connections.
Start with the service model & governance chapters
The Blueprint is meant to be adapted, not replicated. Where a local service or procedure already does the job well, keep it — the goal is to fill genuine coordination gaps, not to redesign what already works.
Integration is rarely just one problem
Legal status, housing, health, language, childcare and employment interact constantly. Unstable housing can block a job search. No childcare can shut someone out of a language class. A single missing document can stall everything else. That's the case for treating support as one connected system, not a set of separate queues.
Some groups face compounding barriers — single parents, people with disabilities or chronic conditions, older people, survivors of violence, and those with limited digital access or support networks. But vulnerability isn't the whole story: most beneficiaries also bring real skills, resilience and resources that a good pathway should build on, not overlook.
What good support has in common
Eight principles underpin the whole model — a shared foundation that still leaves room for local context.
Person-centred & strengths-based
Support reflects the person's own priorities, capacities and resources — not a fixed template.
Accessibility
Language, disability, digital literacy and caregiving barriers are actively designed around, not left for the person to solve.
Case management & continuity
One thread of responsibility runs through assessment, referral, follow-up and review — proportionate to need.
Coordination & partnership
Clear roles and real information-sharing let separate organisations act as one system.
Rights, equity & non-discrimination
People are treated as rights-holders, with dignity, fairness and appropriate safeguarding.
Social cohesion
Dedicated support is explained clearly and designed to avoid resentment or parallel systems with host communities.
Trauma-informed practice
Delivery builds safety, predictability and trust — without assuming trauma or forcing disclosure.
Intercultural communication
Interpreters and cultural mediation keep language and culture from becoming barriers to rights.
What actually happens, step by step
Every beneficiary moves through the same functional pathway, even when different organisations deliver different parts of it.
Single entry & case opening
One clear door into the system, whichever channel someone arrives through — in person, by phone or online.
Triage & immediate response
Urgent safety, protection or basic needs are addressed first, before deeper assessment begins.
Needs assessment
A proportionate look across the relevant dimensions of someone's situation — no more than necessary, no less than needed.
Prioritisation & support planning
Needs are ranked and turned into a personalised action plan built with the person, not for them.
Service activation & referral
The plan connects to real services — inside the ecosystem or through an external specialist referral.
Case coordination during delivery
A case manager keeps multiple services aligned while support is actively underway.
Follow-up & review of progress
Progress is checked against the plan, and the plan adjusts as circumstances change.
Outcome review, transition & closure
The case closes with a clear outcome — or transitions cleanly to longer-term support.
Nine areas of support, activated as needed
Modules aren't a checklist everyone completes — they're switched on according to what assessment actually finds, and several can run at once.
Legal, documentation & residence
Resolving status, paperwork and administrative barriers that block access to everything else.
Housing mediation & basic needs
Finding and stabilising accommodation and covering urgent material needs.
Healthcare navigation
Helping people register with and actually use the health system, including continuity of care.
Mental health & psychosocial support
Support for wellbeing and coping, delivered without assuming trauma in every case.
Language learning & cultural orientation
Building the language and local know-how that everything else depends on.
Education continuity
Keeping children and young people's schooling on track through disruption.
Childcare & family support
Removing the care gaps that otherwise block language classes, work or appointments.
Employment & labour-market integration
Matching skills and qualifications to real opportunities in the local labour market.
Entrepreneurship & self-employment
Support for those building their own livelihood rather than seeking employment.
Governance, implementation & sustainability
A pathway is only as good as the system holding it together. Three areas of the Blueprint cover how to build and keep that system working.
Partnerships & coordination
- A clear architecture for who coordinates the ecosystem
- Up-to-date mapping of services and stakeholders
- Agreements for joining, leaving and sharing information
- Minimum quality & accountability standards
Getting from plan to practice
- An organisational readiness assessment
- A protocol for adapting the model locally
- Phased rollout with a launch-readiness checklist
- Risk management and ongoing monitoring
Keeping it alive beyond the pilot
- Institutional ownership and anchoring
- A stable financing basis for the operational core
- Workforce retention and knowledge continuity
- Pathways to wider institutional uptake
Six priorities for anyone implementing this
Drawn from the research, piloting and expert validation behind the Blueprint.
Preserve the common functional core
Keep entry, assessment, prioritisation, referral, case management and follow-up intact — adapt how they're configured, not whether they exist.
Organise around one coordinated entry
Multiple access channels should still lead into a single intake and support logic.
Make sure assessment leads to action
Every priority need identified should lead to a real service, a clear owner and an actual outcome — not just a record.
Keep support proportionate & accessible
Match intensity to actual risk and need, and design out language, disability and digital barriers.
Build the organisational conditions first
Governance, prepared staff, active partnerships and data-sharing agreements need to be in place before scaling.
Secure sustainable financing
Coordination and case management need stable funding — not just the frontline services people see.
Read the full framework, module by module.
This page distills the highlights. The full 127-page Blueprint includes detailed operational sheets for every module, the complete implementation toolkit, and the research behind the model.
Who's behind the Blueprint
EU4UA is delivered by a four-organisation consortium in Poland and Romania, co-funded by the European Union, with five associated partners contributing expertise across Europe.
(coordinator)
(ADV Romania)
Społeczno-Ekonomicznych
Services Foundation
Poland
asociacija (LiSVA) · Lithuania
Spain
Belgium
Belgium