Christopher Coen
Melissa Sogard
nancylee1
Opting-out of oversight responsibilities in refugee resettlement
Posted by Christopher Coen on December 31, 2010
The Tennessean has an article about that state “opting-out” of refugee resettlement oversight responsibilities, as twelve other states have already done. I put opting-out in quotes because it doesn’t seem to me anyone or any entity can really opt-out of responsibilities.
Next year, the Office for Refugees at Catholic Charities of Tennessee will administer more than $9 million in federal funds aimed at helping refugees statewide overcome language barriers, get jobs and become self-sufficient.
The office, based in Nashville, acts as a go-between for the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement and Tennessee agencies that serve refugees. It has been administering between $9-10 million a year since 2008 in an interim capacity under the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement.
“When we were the interim, we acted like the state and ran the program on its behalf,” said Holly Johnson, director of the Tennessee Office for Refugees. “Now, as the permanent office, we have can have a little more flexibility with the programs we offer.”
Thirteen states, including Tennessee, have opted out of the federal program, leaving it to be run by nonprofits in those states…. Read more here
The whole point of having states oversee federal funds is that states are closer to the action so are theoretically better positioned to oversee local refugee resettlement efforts. In Tennessee we now have Catholic Charities of Tennessee overseeing itself, and they like the new “flexibility with the funds” that this new arrangement will confer. That’s sort of stating the obvious. What amazes me is how states keep doing that seemingly without any debate whatsoever. Is the public involved in these decisions at all?
