REFUGEES / IMMIGRATION
Case Management for Refugees and Entrants—In 1985, the Department of Social Services, which is responsible for service provision to refugees within New York State, contracted with WRI to design a case management system for coordinating services such as financial aid, health care, housing, employment, and assistance with language and acculturation. In addition to specifying the coordination process, WRI also recommended an interagency organizational structure and developed a case management manual for use in training appropriate agency staff.
Emergency Displaced Persons Project—In response to the influx of Cuban and Haitian refugees to Florida in 1979-80, the state’s Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services began a special assistance program with funding from the federal Department of Health and Human Services. WRI served as evaluator and provided technical assistance to the project. The project provided diagnostic, employment, and other services to Cuban young people with special needs, and it provided more comprehensive, community-based services to the roughly 30,000 Haitians residing in Dade County.
Evaluation of Employment Services Programs for Refugees—In 1989, under contract to the New York State Department of Social Services, WRI evaluated three employment-related program models targeted to refugees: Employment Support Programs (ESP), providing services to promote refugee employment, particularly to individuals on public assistance; Youth Employment Services (YES), targeted to refugees between the ages of 16 and 21; and Refugee Women Share in Self-Sufficiency (SHARE), targeted to women’s employment needs, including cultural barriers to employment.
Evaluation of the Older Refugee Demonstration Project—In 1986, WRI evaluated a special employment project for entrants whose age posed a barrier to employment. To address problems of high unemployment rates and a large proportion on public assistance, the State Department of Social Services funded a number of voluntary agencies in New York City to provide an array of special services to older refugees. WRI served as project monitor and evaluator of these service programs.
Special Immigrant Juvenile Status – In 2008, WRI was asked to write an Administrative Directive (ADM) on Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) for the NYS Office of Children and Family Services. The purpose of the ADM is to provide guidance to local departments of social services and child welfare agencies in New York State on identifying and assisting youth to obtain the status. SIJS enables immigrant youth in foster care to become lawful permanent residents and obtain a green card.
