Day: February 6, 2018

USCRI gets big federal grant to teach senior refugees English

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Why do they need to speak English if they aren’t going out into the workplace?
Because, of course, USCRI (one of nine federal refugee contractors***) and others on the No Borders Left want to be sure they can pass a citizenship test and ultimately vote.

Jill Peckenpaugh
In 2016, Albany USCRI director, Jill Peckenpaugh, said USCRI, which controls the turf there, had admitted over 3,000 refugees to Albany since 2005.  http://wamc.org/post/panel-discussion-mideast-refugee-crisis-held-albany

And, know that even if the refugee flow into the country is slowing down, federal grants are still going out for various and sundry ‘needs’ of the refugee community.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is still sending out millions of dollars that is helping the contractors stay financially afloat through the Trump admissions slowdown.
(New readers might want to see that the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) recently ditched its longtime leader—-Lavinia Limon—here.)
 

Yes, elder refugees are eligible for Social Security benefits!

And, before I get to the story at the Albany Times Union about USCRI’s $180,000 grant, readers need to know that we admit refugees to the US who are over 65 years old and that they are eligible for Supplemental Security Income (see here).
Social security logo
Curious about how many senior citizen refugees we admit, I checked some numbers at Wrapsnet.
I couldn’t find an over all number so here are some selected ethnic groups.
From FY09 to today we admitted refugees over 65 years old from (I only looked up a few nationalities!):

Burma (1,844)

Bhutan (4,458)

Iraq (5,099)

Somalia (598)

Syria (207)

Surely, for the whole refugee population from every country, the number of refugees eligible for SSI in the last ten years must be 20,000-30,000!
And, I don’t know if the refugee industry advocates got rid of the rule (they were trying) that requires the senior refugee to attain citizenship in seven years or become ineligible to continue receiving their gratis SSI. (Too lazy this morning to search for it!)
USCRI Albany is being paid by you, the US taxpayer, to help senior refugees get their services and is seeking volunteers in Albany because Albany has run out of American senior citizens in need of volunteer help.
And, btw, the volunteers will do the actual work while some USCRI staffer is paid with the grant money to ‘administer’ the program.
From the Albany Times Union:

ALBANY — When 64-year-old Raaida Aldabass first came to the U.S. from Syria one year ago, she used to cry every day that she wanted to go back to her country.

“But now it is better, she is happy because she’s learning the language,” Rana Safeih, Aldabass’ daughter, said in Arabic.

[….]

Aldabass is one of nearly 30 senior citizen refugees receiving ENL tutoring sessions.

These sessions are just one of multiple new services the Albany chapter of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants has been providing to its older refugee population after receiving a three-year, $180,000 grant in January 2017.

“The main idea is to connect refugees with already-existing services,” said Jake Slutzky, program coordinator at USCRI-Albany.

The program, called Services to Older Refugees, is broken up into two categories: community outreach and education, and intensive case management. USCRI provides their nearly 30 older refugees extensive assistance in areas such as housing, medical care, legal assistance and social integration, to name a few.

[….]

“Folks need to learn English and pass the U.S. citizenship test, but do not have the mobility to get to class,” Slutzky said. “Volunteers go to the refugees’ homes to teach them English at a time that the grandchildren or children who speak English are home, so they can help with the lesson. Besides helping with ENL, you’re helping an elderly person keep their mind active and become self-sufficient.”

More here.
And, this isn’t just happening in Albany, here is a story from Phoenix about elder refugees who have many needs, including mental health needs.
By the way, if you wonder why USCRI supports the DACA kids and every other group of illegal aliens here in the US, just know that if amnesty is granted, USCRI and the other contractors expect to be hired by the feds to help the ‘New Americans’ get their services too!
*** These are the nine federal contractors paid by you to place refugees in to hundreds of towns and cities via their subcontractors (see directory of offices).
The number in parenthesis is the percentage of their income paid by you (the taxpayer) to place those refugees and get them signed up for their services (like SSI)!
USCRI is 98% taxpayer funded!