Human Services

Refugee Services Grants

Statewide Outcome(s):

Refugee Services Grants supports the following statewide outcome(s).

Minnesotans are healthy.

Minnesotans have the education and skills needed to achieve their goals.

Context:

Refugees have had to flee their country of origin and are unable to return because of a well-founded fear of persecution. When no other options exist, the United States, as well as most Western nations, provides refugees an opportunity for permanent resettlement. Most refugees resettled in the United States over the last two decades have been Southeast Asians, but more recently the population has become more diverse with people from countries in strife, such as Bosnia, Somalia, Sudan, Liberia, Iraq and the former Soviet Union.

Refugee Services Grants provide assistance to refugees, asylees and victims of human trafficking to resettle in Minnesota. Grants are provided to state and local agencies, including county and voluntary resettlement agencies, school districts and community agencies in order to enhance human, health, educational, employment and training services. In 2011, an average of 1,210 persons per month received employment and social services through these grants, at an average monthly cost of about $300 per recipient.

The activity is funded with federal grants appropriated through the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Absent these services, fewer refugees will find work and more will lack the medical, social and financial supports necessary to resettle successfully.

Strategies:

Refugee Services Grants provide an array of services, including:

·         Medical health screening

·         Refugee cash assistance

·         Information and referral

·         Translation and interpreter services

·         Case management services

·         Citizenship and naturalization preparation services

·         Supported employment services and transportation

Grants are used in partnerships with local voluntary resettlement agencies, the Minnesota Departments of Health and Education, providers and refugee communities. They support services that improve health, safety and stability during resettlement.

Results:

The department’s Refugee Services uses several client outcome indicators to determine the effectiveness of its grant management activity.

Performance Measures Notes:

Measurements come from the Office of Refugee Resettlement Performance Report. Measures compare 2010 (Previous) to 2011 data (Current).