Archive for November, 2011
Posted by Christopher Coen on November 30, 2011
Although the US refugee resettlement program does not mandate mental health screenings for refugees, some resettlement locations have provided these screenings, such as Utica, New York. Refugees there, however, will no longer get the screenings since services which are not mandated are the first to go during budget cuts. An Observer-Dispatch article gives the details:
Mid-year funding cuts by the financially struggling state are hitting social programs that help the mentally ill.
Some programs that received money through the Oneida County Department of Mental Health are seeing their funding dry up at the end of the year, while others are seeing steep reductions.
Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente didn’t hold out much hope that the money might be restored.
“It’s the consequences of the state cuts,” he said. “We can obviously fight for it, but it’s one of those areas that aren’t going to get resolved.”
Among the cuts:…
…* The Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees is losing $38,583, which funded mental health screenings for refugees…
…State funds for the county Mental Health department have been slashed from $9,542,793 in 2011 to $9,122,378 in 2012, budget documents show.County officials said the department had to cut programs that do not provide mandated services.
Mental health advocates said the cuts might save money in the short term but will cost more in the end.
“It ends with people unfortunately losing services, ending up in emergency rooms, homeless or in the criminal justice system,” said Glenn Liebman, of the Mental Health Association of New York State. “No one wants those outcomes, and it’s more costly for the taxpayers.”… Read more here
Posted in mental health, Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees, Utica | Tagged: budget cuts, mental health screening, Oneida County, refugees, resettlement, Utica | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on November 29, 2011
Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is covered in an article in Crosscurrents:
Over the past decade, California has resettled more Middle Eastern refugees than any other state in the country. In Northern California, Santa Clara County in the South Bay is a resettlement hub for Middle Eastern refugees – more than 1,300 moved there since 2006. About one out of three of those refugees are from Iraq. And most have seen or suffered through violence related to the war.
- JASMINE: What happened will remain like a scar inside yourself. Especially like we saw a lot of stuff not normal. Like dead people in the street. People killed in front of your eye. I don’t believe like I’m going to forget them.
Iraqi refugee Jasmine asked that we not use her full name for this story. After two years in the U.S., she’s been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and she’s receiving therapy for it. But Iraqi culture, like many others, often considers mental health problems shameful, and Jasmine is concerned about embarrassing her family. Reporter Shuka Kalantari shares Jasmine’s story…
…Jasmine’s social worker recommended she see a therapist and referred her to the Center for Survivors of Torture. Doctor James Livingston is a psychologist at the center. He says just the experience of having to flee your home country is usually enough to cause post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
- JAMES LIVINGSTON: The re-experiencing symptoms are very painful and disruptive because they’re typically accompanied by the kinds of feelings that were experienced in the original situation. And so terror, horror, all sorts of very painful emotions…
- …LIVINGSTON: We get people who were professionals in their home countries who are very intelligent and very educated and find themselves unable to learn because they’re traumatized…. Read more here
Posted in Iraqi, PTSD, San Jose, women | Tagged: Center for Survivors of Torture, Iraqi, mental health, Post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, refugees, resettlement, San Jose, traumatization | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on November 28, 2011
Researchers at San Francisco State University and the Burma Refugee Family Network (BRFN) released a report that claims almost 60 percent of Oakland’s refugees from Burma/Myanmar are living in extreme poverty, with 63% being unemployed. Those of Karenni origin from Burma fair even worse: 81 percent are unemployed, and 90 percent are living in extreme poverty. The report concludes that refugees from Burma in Oakland are at risk of becoming a permanent, poverty-stricken underclass, and that the local resettlement program has not been successful. An article at EurekAlert has the story:
Refugees who have fled Burma to live in Oakland, Calif., are at risk of becoming a permanent, poverty-stricken underclass warns a new report released today by researchers at San Francisco State University and the Burma Refugee Family Network (BRFN). The report found that almost 60 percent of Oakland’s refugees from Burma are living in extreme poverty…
…”These recent refugees from Burma are facing dire circumstances,” said Russell Jeung, associate professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University…
…Jeung and his students, together with BRFN and other community-based organizations, surveyed 194 refugees from Burma to assess the community’s needs. The researchers found that in addition to high poverty rates, these refugees face barriers to accessing employment, health care and government benefits caused by their lack of English. These barriers have been exacerbated by recent cuts in the provision of English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and a lack of appropriate interpretation services…
…The report found that among Oakland’s refugee population from Burma:
- 63 percent are unemployed. Those that are employed have sporadic, low-wage jobs.
- 57 percent live below the federal threshold for extreme poverty, earning less than $1,000 per month for an average household size of five. Most of the remainder live below the federal poverty line.
- 38 percent speak no English at all. Another 28 percent speak English poorly.
- 74 percent report that lack of English is their biggest barrier to accessing health care.
- 47 percent report that English classes are the most-needed service in their community…
…Now resettled in Oakland, refugees of Karenni origin are struggling to adapt to life in the United States: 81 percent are unemployed, 90 percent are living in extreme poverty and 90 percent have no high school education…
…”Our findings suggest that resettlement programs in Oakland are not yet successful,” Maung said. “We would like to see federal and local refugee government agencies and nonprofits working together with and supporting grassroots community organizations in order to help members of our community achieve self-sufficiency.”… Read more here
Refugees from Burma/Myanmar have also experienced muggings and robberies in Oakland, as have refugees from Bhutan/Nepal.
Posted in alienation-isolation, Burma/Myanmar, dangerous neighborhoods, economic self-sufficiency, employment/jobs for refugees, ESL & ELL, Karen, Karenni, language, language interpretation/translation, lack of, Oakland | Tagged: Burma, Burma Refugee Family Network, Cesar Chavez Institute, From Crisis to Community Development: Needs Assessments of Refugees from Burma, Myanmar, Oakland, poverty, refugees, resettlement, San Francisco State University | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on November 26, 2011
An article in the New York Times mentions that the International Institute (a USCRI affiliate) proposed to resettle 300 refugees in Manchester this fiscal year, but that the State Department trimmed that down to 200 while rejecting City officials’ request for a moratorium (only last summer the plan was to resettle 400-600 refugees). William J. Gillett, chairman of the Institute’s board claims that his agency does the best they can within the price constraints they have, and that they would try harder to work with the city.
MANCHESTER, N.H. — This city has long been a resettlement site for refugees, sent here by the State Department for a chance at a better life. ..
…But this year, after decades of taking in refugees, Manchester said, “Enough.”
In a highly unusual move, Mayor Ted Gatsas and the city’s Board of Aldermen asked the State Department in July to halt resettlements here for now…
…The mayor, a Republican who just won a second term, says he has nothing against refugees. His problem is with the International Institute of New England…
…For the International Institute, which has been resettling refugees in New Hampshire for decades, the moratorium request came as a shock, said William J. Gillett, chairman of the agency’s board…
“We did not believe the numbers we were suggesting were in any way inappropriate,” Mr. Gillett said. “We didn’t see any evidence of undue strain on city resources.”
Although refugees are also resettled in other New Hampshire cities, including Concord and Nashua, far more come to Manchester, the largest city in northern New England, because it has more jobs, affordable housing and public transportation.
“It’s one of the most fabulous places in the world to resettle,” said Carolyn Benedict-Drew, the institute’s president and chief executive.
But the institute admits that affordable apartments have sometimes proved unacceptable. In 2009, a bedbug infestation at a former mill building that houses refugees grabbed headlines and raised awareness of the squalid conditions some were living in. Patrick Long, a Democratic alderman who voted for the moratorium, said the institute “just wasn’t there to help” with the bedbug problem, which led to a city task force that came up with recommendations for improving refugee housing, education and other needs. “The apartments they were putting them in were shabby,” he said, “and their employment numbers were misleading.”
On housing, Mr. Gillett said, “We do the best we can within the price constraints we have.”…
…Mr. Bartlett said that after hearing the city’s concerns, his office had decided to send some 200 refugees to Manchester this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, instead of the 300 proposed by the International Institute. While the State Department often tinkers with the numbers proposed by resettlement agencies, he said, “this was probably a more significant reduction than we would normally make.”
A moratorium would make no sense, he said, partly because virtually all refugees scheduled to arrive in Manchester this year have family here and would likely end up in the city even if they were initially sent somewhere else.
Meanwhile, leaders of the International Institute said they would try harder to work with the city. Michael McGandy, who started in March as the institute’s site manager in Manchester, said high staff turnover… had perhaps kept the agency from communicating with the city as much as it should… Read more here
An editorial in the New Hampshire Herald speculated that the real reason for the moratorium request was perhaps the $4 million dollars per year that the City is spending on special needs children (many refugees being in that group due to the language barrier and/or a lack of earlier education). The editorial staff thought that the City may have been trying to save money due to budget problems.
I’m disappointed, however, with Mr. Gillett’s claim – in regard to the squalor that people have found refugees living in – that his organization does the best it can within the price constraints. Its much less a matter of money than it is the nature of the refugee experience and their psychology. Due to their earlier experiences of abuse by authorities in the circumstances they have fled from, most do not trust authority figures. Without help from refugee contractors, such as the Institute and other organizations, many of them will not demand improvements in substandard living conditions. Unfortunately, there are many landlords that will take advantage of that.
Mr. Gillett also claims that the moratorium request came as a shock. What that tells me is that either he was completely out of touch with the worsening relationship with City leaders, or that he was fairly certain that there would be no consequences for that. Neither of those positions would have been in the refugees’ best interests.
I also note that the International Institute of New England’s disingenuous claim on their website that they have “…in partnership with the U.S. Department of State, decreased the number of placements from 300 to 200.”
Posted in housing, housing, substandard, International Institute of NE, International Institute of New Hampshire, local officials, failure to notify, moratorium / restriction, New Hampshire, State Department | Tagged: International Institute, manchester, moratorium, New Hampshire, refugees, resettlement, U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, USCRI | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on November 25, 2011
Now I understand the timing of Mayor Gatsas of Manchester going ballistic last week. It turns out that the refugee office at the State Department rejected his request for a moratorium of refugee resettlement in Manchester. An editorial in the Concord Monitor mentions the moratorium rejection and criticizes Gatsas’s latest request – for cut-off of certain federal aid (US Dept. of HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement grants) to the entire state:
Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas’s frustration at the strain a steady stream of refugees has placed on city services is understandable. So is his request to the State Department for a one-year moratorium on refugee resettlement to allow his city to improve its ability to meet refugee needs. But Gatsas’s response, when the predictable “no” to a moratorium came from federal authorities, was arrogant and illogical.
He wants …state government..to reject all contracts between the state and agencies that aid resettled refugees. That wouldn’t stop refugees from coming. The number assigned Manchester and other host cities is set by the State Department. But by stopping the already inadequate flow of federal money to assist refugee resettlement, it would place an even greater burden on local taxpayers… Read more here
Posted in funding, International Institute of NE, International Institute of New Hampshire, moratorium / restriction, New Hampshire, ORR, State Department | Tagged: funding, manchester, moratorium, New Hampshire, refugees, resettlement, Ted Gatsas | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on November 23, 2011
When it comes to “humanitarian” conduct, US government humanitarian agencies seem to sometimes be lacking, as we’ve seen at the State Department’s refugee office. At another US agency, the Peace Corps, it was apparently normal for years to blame volunteers subjected to sexual assault. One young woman said the response she got from Peace Corps officials was worse than the rape. Yet another, who was drugged and sexually assaulted in 2007 in Mozambique, said a Peace Corps medical officer made her write in her testimony that she was intoxicated, and suggested that she willingly had sex with the perpetrator. A new bill, signed into law by President Obama this week, attempts to give greater protection to these victims. An article in the Washington Post explains:
President Obama on Monday signed into law better protections for Peace Corps volunteers, ending a long public campaign by volunteers who said the humanitarian agency did little to help victims of sexual assault.
The Kate Puzey Volunteer Protection Act of 2011 is named after a 24-year-old Georgia woman who was killed in 2009 while posted with the Peace Corps in a village in Benin, days after her confidential e-mails about a fellow teacher were mishandled. The suspects in the case have not gone to trial.
The bill was supported by the Peace Corps, unlike previous legislation that did not pass Congress. Many of the changes already had been adopted by the agency, whose director, Aaron S. Williams, acknowledged a “blame the victim” culture…
…The law does not address the Peace Corps’ law enforcement response to violent crime, which was moved in 2008 from the inspector general’s office to its own in-country staff, most of whom have little or no law enforcement training. Former volunteers and investigators have criticized the shift as a weakness in pursuing justice against perpetrators… Read more here
The New York Times article from May provides background information.
Posted in State Department | Tagged: accountability, cover-up, humanitarian agency, Kate Puzey Volunteer Protection Act of 2011, Peace Corps, State Department | 2 Comments »
Posted by Christopher Coen on November 22, 2011
A refugee man from Burma/Myanmar in St. Paul allegedly stabbed another refugee to death and then stabbed and blinded his own wife in an incident Saturday involving hallmarks of severe mental illness. The murder victim was purportedly another refugee from Burma/Myanmar, employed at a meat processing plant in Albert Lea, Minnesota. This tragedy may be another consequence of not consistently screening or treating refugees for major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD and other mental illnesses. An article in the St. Paul Pioneer Press tells what happened:
A 48-year-old St. Paul man has been charged with murder and attempted murder after he allegedly killed a man he believed had designs on his wife, then turned the weapon on her.
Police were called to an apartment in the 1400 block of Farrington Street about 7 a.m. Saturday. A witness yelled, “He killed him. There is a body in there,” and pointed to the window of the apartment, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday in Ramsey County District Court.
Police found Po Lye, 40, deceased, with “a very deep and wide laceration to (his) neck,” the complaint said. The wife was blinded in both eyes from stab wounds.
Officers said previously that Lye was from Albert Lea, Minn. Alleged assailant Pah Ber was arrested at the scene… Read more here
The federal refugee resettlement program does not require contractors to screen incoming refugees for mental illnesses – medical screening during refugees’ first 30 days in the US only involves physical health issues (State Department’s requirements for contractors – see Health at bottom of list). This is obviously foolhardy when we know that the traumatic experiences and upheaval involved in the refugee experience is associated with suicide, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depression, and other mental disorders. We need look no further than incidents of tragedy among refugees from Bhutan/Nepal (and here), Burma/Myanmar, Sudan, Somalia (and here), and other refugees.
Posted in Burma/Myanmar, mental health, Twin Cities | Tagged: Burma, mental health, Myanmar, refugees, resettlement, st paul | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on November 21, 2011
The US Department of State and the International Institute of Akron are resettling about 350 refugees annually in Akron. Secondary migration from other areas of the US is significant, with 350 more refugees arriving annually. Adult refugees here face the usual barriers to medical care, such as transportation issues, the language barrier, and cultural differences that hinder understanding and communication between medical staff and patients. Medical workers treat refugees for parasites, hepatitis, tuberculosis, dental problems, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other health issues. Although most refugee children are in good health when they arrive, some have medical concerns not typically seen in American-born children — e.g., hepatitis, latent tuberculosis, anemia, failure to thrive, parasites, chronic ear infections and certain oral health problems. An article in the Beacon Journal has more:
…Each year, about 350 refugees from Myanmar, Nepal, Iraq and other countries arrive in the Akron area with the help of the International Institute of Akron, according to Kate Sass, the institute’s director of refugee resettlement. Another 350 refugees who have been living in other cities throughout the United States also relocate to the region in a typical year…
...Cultural differencesAlong with the obvious language barrier, things such as transportation issues and cultural differences create challenges, Van Nostran said. Some patients also struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder from their past experiences.
The staff has learned, for example, that it is considered rude in some cultures to only use one hand instead of two to give patients their prescriptions or other paperwork.
In another case, Van Nostran said, hospital staff were concerned that a refugee couple were ignoring their newborn shortly after birth. The staff later learned this was the custom in the family’s native culture, which believes doting on a newborn will draw the attention of “evil spirits.”
“It has challenged us not to make assumptions but to ask specifically about cultures,” she said…
…When refugees arrive, they must have an initial health exam within 30 days for parasites, hepatitis, tuberculosis, dental problems and other health issues.
Some refugees have latent tuberculosis, which isn’t active or contagious but still must be treated with a nine-month course of antibiotics to avoid an active infection in the future, she said.
“You learn a lot,” Erme said. “Health-care providers who take care of refugee patients need to be open to learning and realize that what we were taught in our medical professional education may not always apply to this population.”…
…Caring for children
…Although the majority of children are in good health when they arrive, he said, refugees have some medical concerns that typically aren’t seen in American-born children — things such as oral health problems, latent tuberculosis, parasites, anemia, failure to thrive, chronic ear infections and hepatitis… Read more here
I think that the International Institute of Akron resettling refugees into crowded housing with rats and roaches also must not have been particularly healthful for refugees in Akron.
Posted in health, housing, substandard, housing, overcrowding, secondary migration, refugee, children, PTSD, cultural adjustment, language, RMA (Refugee Medical Assistance), Akron, International Institute of Akron | Tagged: refugees, resettlement, International Institute, PTSD, language barrier, Akron, hepatitis, latent tuberculosis, anemia, failure to thrive | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on November 20, 2011
A roundtable panel discussion In Austin addresses the issue of older refugees. Panelists included Zarni Tun (resettlement case manager with Refugee Services of Texas); Lorel Donaghey (employment specialist with Caritas of Austin); Casey Kasper (ESL teacher with Interfaith Action of Texas) and Rebecca Tulis (extended case manager with Refugee Services of Texas). The discussion is described at Austin Refugee Roundtable:
…Some of the problems faced by older refugees –identified as refugees over the age of 50- included:
- General fear of being a burden on family members.
- It is more difficult for them to learn English which makes it more difficult to pass the US citizenship test. This makes them not eligible to receive SSI/SSDI beyond 7 years.
- Employment difficulty since many jobs that would be a good fit (caring for others, childcare, sewing) require individuals to be fluent in English or able to work fast on big machines… Read more here
Posted in alienation-isolation, Austin, Caritas of Austin, elderly refugees, employment/jobs for refugees, ESL & ELL, language, mental health, Refugee Services of Texas, Refugee Services of Texas | Tagged: Austin, Caritas of Austin, elderly, ESL, Interfaith Action of Texas, panel discussion, Refugee Services of Texas, refugees, resettlement, Roundtable | Leave a Comment »
Christopher Coen
Melissa Sogard
nancylee1
Although the US refugee resettlement program does not mandate mental health screenings for refugees, some resettlement locations have provided these screenings, such as Utica, New York. Refugees there, however, will no longer get the screenings since services which are not mandated are the first to go during budget cuts. An Observer-Dispatch article gives the details:
