Your tax dollars:
Salt Lake City, Utah is one of the US cities that has had problems with refugees in recent years. You only need to use or search function for ‘Salt Lake City’ and you will see what I mean. Now comes news that the volags (federal contractors that do most refugee resettlement in the US) operating in Utah will receive $2 million extra federal dollars to try to get the program under control.
The refugee resettlement program as it has been administered for some time only took care of refugees for about 6 months (time varied somewhat depending on how thorough the agency did its job). The experimental program in Utah expands that time to 2 years.
The family[Somali family discussed in this article] benefitted from special long-term case management, which starting this month, all new refugees will receive. Thanks to federal dollars, Utah’s resettlement organizations were able to hire a large number of new staff, who will guide and supervise refugees during their first two years in America. The goal is to foster independence and ensure families aren’t overlooked.
This is a massive shift in a system that critics say has previously left many refugees feeling abandoned and neglected. Minimal funding meant staffers were overwhelmed and unable to provide more than basic help.
All three groups [International Rescue Committee, Catholic Community Services and the Asian Association] have expanded staff thanks to about $2 million per year in federal welfare and social service dollars for the two-year experimental program.
It was only a matter of time before these federal contractors asked for and received more taxpayer money. We have recommended that a greater effort should be made to find private charity to supplement the federal and state funds used for resettling refugees, but alas if the federal printing presses run for AIG of course they would be expected to run for the IRC.
Patrick Poulin (IRC), believes this is the direction refugee programs “need to go.”