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The
mission of the Resettlement Program is to provide:
- Pre-migration,
migration and resettlement services to refugees
from the former Soviet Union. The principal applicant in each
refugee family is Jewish and sponsored by a
first degree relative who resides in Greater Hartford. Intensive,
proactive services are offered through the first four months in
the U.S.A. with a goal of early self-sufficiency.
- Case management
and social services on an as-needed basis to new American clients
in the U.S.A. between five months and five years.
- Information
and vocational services to pre-migration clients who were denied
refugee status and granted parole
status.
- Outreach
and education to prepare the elderly refugees for citizenship
through seven years in U.S.A.
- Encouragement
and support for collaborative community efforts to promote early
self-sufficiency, social adjustment and acculturation for these
new Americans.
- Assistance
in any emergency refugee evacuation when requested by the U.S.
government and HIAS. (Click here to read
about role in Kosovar refugee crisis.)
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DEFINITIONS
& RELEVANT INFORMATION
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U.S.
refugee
is
an
individual who applied at a U.S. Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS) office located abroad and was admitted to the
U.S. refugee program because of persecution or a well-founded
fear of persecution based upon religion, nationality, political
opinion, race, or membership in a particular social group.
Each year the President, in consultation with Congress, determines
how many refugees from designated regions of the world may
be admitted to the U.S.A.
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First
degree relative is a spouse, parent, child,
sibling, grandparent, grandchild of a person residing with
legal permanent status in the U.S.A.
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Parolee
is an individual who is ineligible to come to the U.S.A. as
a refugee, immigrant or non-immigrant, and who is paroled
into the U.S.A. by the Attorney General for emergency, humanitarian
and public-interest reasons. Before parole status is approved,
an Affidavit of Support on INS form I-134 must be submitted
by a friend or relative of the parolee and approved by the
Department of State to ensure that the alien will not become
a public charge while in the U.S.A.
At
this time, parole in the public interest is offered
to nationals of the newly independent states of the former
Soviet Union, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. In the case of nationals
from the former Soviet Union, an offer of parole can be extended
only after an applicant has been denied refugee status.
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During
the
Kosovar Refugee Evacuation
of 1999, this resettlement program organized a
meeting with Catholic Charities, the Jewish Federation, and
the Resettlement Program of Jewish Family Service, to explore
how to coordinate our local responses to this crisis. It was
jointly decided that the Resettlement Program of Jewish Family
Service would provide support to Catholic Charities, and the
Jewish Federation would raise funds to contribute to Catholic
Charities. This resettlement program developed a pool of volunteers
to tutor and teach ESOL on a daily basis at Catholic Charities
Refugee Migration and Resettlement Service and to package
and distribute weekly food rations.
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