|
As thousands of refugees enter the United States every year, the Department of Health and Human Services has struggled to resettle them and help them find jobs during the recession. Since refugees typically arrive without the basic essentials, the Office of Refugee Resettlement provides temporary assistance to refugees. In 2009, Congress appropriated over $400 million to support refugee resettlement programs for about 70,000 refugees accepted into the United States.
Refugee assistance programs provide cash and medical assistance as well as a broad range of social services, including employment assistance, English classes, naturalization services, and cultural adjustment services.
The percentage of employed participants declined in recent years, along with the economy in general. In 2007, 62 percent of refugees receiving cash assistance found employment within four to eight months. By 2009, the rate decreased to 41 percent.
Staff at volunteer agencies said the recession not only made it more difficult to find jobs, but an increasing number of refugees already employed had their hours cut or could only find temporary employment. Jobs that previously employed refugees, like the hospitality or construction sector, were increasingly filled by American citizens with more experience—unemployment nationwide topped 9 percent in 2009.
Different refugee assistance programs use a variety of approaches to assist new arrivals. Some provide services through a single agency in one location, while others refer refugees to a number of agencies for multiple services. There is little research or data on how to improve the economic condition of refugees and which approaches are most effective, according to a review by theGovernment Accountability Office. All refugee assistance programs have measures in common, but they collect information at different points in time.
“Little is known about the relative effectiveness of approaches used by ORR assistance programs in improving refugees’ economic status,” the GAO report said. “With refugees’ employment outcomes declining because of the recession and significant pressures on the federal budget, it is important that program providers use approaches that have been shown to be effective.”
FAST FACT: English proficiency is one of the most important factors influencing the economic status of refugees. Close to 90 percent of those who lacked an income and received cash assistance lived in a household where no one spoke English, according the ORR’s 2007 report to Congress.
Following are other new watchdog reports released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), various federal Offices of Inspector General (OIG), and other government entities.
MISC.
- The Department of Agriculture program to expand broadband service did not maintain its focus on rural communities. The agency issued 12 percent of its $895 million to communities near large metropolitan areas. The program also gave significant funds to assist competitive service in areas that already had broadband instead of expanding service to regions without any service. (USDA Inspector General)
