The Refugee Influx - Refugee Adjustment To Life In Theunited States

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) under the Department of Health and Human Services administers programs to assist refugees and asylees in adjusting to life in the United States. The U.S. resettlement program is designed to function as a public-private partnership, with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) playing a key role. Through the Reception and Placement program, refugees are welcomed on arrival and provided essential services (housing, clothing, food, referrals to medical and social services) during the first thirty days in the United States. During this initial period the resettlement agencies also link refugees to longer-term resettlement and integration programs funded by the ORR.

Some of the NGOs recruit church groups and volunteers from local communities to provide a variety of services, and to contribute clothing and household furnishings to meet the needs of arriving refugees. In addition, they often become mentors and friends of refugees, providing orientation to community services, offering supportive services such as tutoring children after school, and teaching families how to shop and handle other essential functions of living in the community.

Mutual Assistance Associations (MAAs), many of which have national networks, provide opportunities for refugees to meet their countrymen who are already settled in the United States. MAAs also help refugees connect with their ethnic culture through holiday and religious celebrations.

The Bush Administration requested a $473.2 million budget appropriation for ORR in FY 2005. This included $399.2 million for refugee assistance, $54.2 million for unaccompanied alien minors, and $10 million each for victims of torture and trafficking (the same amount approved for victims of torture and trafficking in FY 2003). The Refugee Council USA, a coalition of U.S. nongovernmental organizations focused on refugee protection, initiated a campaign to lobby Congress for an ORR FY 2005 budget appropriation of $650 million. On February 7, 2005, President Bush unveiled his FY 2006 proposal, which included an ORR budget of $489 million, an increase of $59 million over the FY 2005 request but still far from the funding level advocated by groups involved in the work of assisting refugees.

Benefits to Assist Transition

Ongoing benefits for the newly arrived refugees include transitional cash assistance, health benefits, and a wide variety of social services, provided through ORR grants. English language training is a basic service offered to all refugees. The primary focus is preparation for employment through skills training, job development, orientation to the workplace, and job counseling. Early employment leads not only to early economic self-sufficiency for the family, but helps establish the family in their new country and community. Special attention is paid to ensure that women have equal access to training and services leading to job placement. Other services include family strengthening, youth and elderly services, adjustment counseling, and mental health services.

Transitional cash assistance benefits are provided to refugees on the basis of family composition. Single adults and childless couples are eligible for Refugee Cash Assistance for up to eight months after arrival. They are expected to be employed by that time. However, families with children under eighteen years of age are eligible for the mainstream welfare program that assisted unemployed families for a period of two years. The amount of monthly cash assistance depends on family composition, and is established by the individual states in which refugees settled.

Health benefits follow similar rules. Single people and childless couples are eligible for Refugee Medical Assistance for their first eight months in the United States. Families with minor children are eligible for the Medicaid program, which is the mainstream health benefits program for unemployed and low-income families in the United States. While there are certain federal requirements that state welfare programs have to follow, states have flexibility and options in designing their programs. Therefore the cash and medical benefits available in each state can vary in terms of time limits and benefits.

Social services provided through a refugee services system are available for the first five years after arrival in the United States. Continuing services beyond five years on a limited basis are available for refugees identified as difficult to employ. They are assisted in overcoming barriers and learning new skills that would improve their chances for employment.

ASYLEES GRANTED REFUGEE ASSISTANCE BENEFITS.

In June 2000 the ORR announced that asylees could participate in refugee assistance benefits starting on the date they were granted asylum, rather than the date of their arrival in the country. Unlike refugees, asylees were not granted asylum at the time they physically entered the United States; they officially "entered" the country on the date asylum was granted. Under the previous ORR policy, asylees often lost out on some benefits because they were granted asylum some time after the date they arrived. Because of the new policy, asylees could obtain refugee assistance benefits, including Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA) and Refugee Medical Assistance (RMA) for eight months, and Refugee Social Services (RSS) for about five years.

Support for Elderly and Disabled Refugees

Refugees who are elderly or disabled received benefits from the Social Security Administration, the same as U.S. citizens. However, changes by Congress in the late 1990s limited the eligibility of noncitizens to their first seven years in the United States. Time limits for noncitizens do not apply once they became U.S. citizens. The refugee program offers citizenship classes to assist refugees who wished to study for the citizenship test.