Or, in layman’s terms, does your town or city have the amenities required (social service goodies, jobs, healthcare, etc.) to become a refugee resettlement site?
A couple of years ago the US State Department (Population Refugees and Migration) and the Office of Refugee Resettlement in HHS decided they better have a more organized way of determining if your town or city has what it takes to “welcome” refugees (as opposed to a previous method that sure looked like throwing darts at a US map!).
For awhile they just kept overloading the established resettlement cities (and they still do), but now they are scouting for fresh territory as well!
Below is what they say at ORR (you might want to contact the lead person listed below and ask to be a ‘stakeholder‘) about their “Coordinated Placement” plan.
Here is what we said about Key Indicators for 2014. We have not yet even opened this 2015 report but remember in a few weeks Obama will announce his plans for how many refugees we will bring to America in 2015 (which begins October 1 of this year). Hat tip: Joanne.
By the way, they talk big about “capacity” but when a community screams that they are over capacity, they close their ears!
To facilitate the FY 2015 Refugee consolidated placement planning, ORR provides the attached “Statistical Abstract for Refugee Resettlement Stakeholders” document. This document contains critical information on the domestic refugee landscape for resettlement stakeholders to consider when making placement decisions, including a compilation of resources historically available to states for determination of the capacity of communities to serve the diverse needs of refugees.
This document is an additional key mechanism for ORR to share data and other critical information with PRM and resettlement stakeholders nationwide. The overall goal is to more effectively meet the needs of refugees while promoting their self-sufficiency and successful integration in the United States after their arrival.
Contact Information
Pierrot Rugaba
Program Analyst/Placement Liaison
Office of Refugee Resettlement
Administration for Children and Families
901 D Street SW – 8th Floor West
Washington DC 20447
Phone: 202-401-6891
Fax: 202-401-5772
pierrot.rugaba@acf.hhs.gov