Christopher Coen
Melissa Sogard
nancylee1
A mysterious bill called “The Domestic Refugee Reform and Modernization Act of 2011″ is being introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Gary C. Peters (D-Mich). Church World Service just sent out the following news release, although Congressman Peters’ website doesn’t yet have any information.Washington — March 15, 2011 – Global humanitarian organization Church World Service applauds Congressman Gary C. Peters (D-Mich.) for introducing the Domestic Refugee Reform and Modernization Act….…The Domestic Refugee Reform and Modernization Act of 2011 would elevate the Office of Refugee Resettlement within the Department of Health and Human Services, thereby giving the office broader authority to make structural changes and to direct resources more effectively, while increasing transparency and inter-agency communication..The bill also would improve the process by which refugee resettlement funds are allocated to states by including in the formula a projection of refugee arrivals during the coming fiscal year in addition to figures for the past three years of arrivals. It also calls for increased data collection on secondary migration, health and mental health issues, housing needs, and long-term employment outcomes, as well as
a Government Accountability Office report on the resettlement program overall… Read more here
We’ll have to wait and see if this legislation would do anything to actually help refugees. No doubt it will definitely include perks for the refugee resettlement agencies and their friends in government. I’d like to see how the bill would “increase transparency” in light of the current situation in which we have to wait months or years for FOIA’s to go through, basic information cannot be found anywhere on the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) website about things such as how much private funding resettlement agencies actually bring to the refugee program, how often the ORR actually inspects the resettlement agencies that receive ORR funds, and why privatization (the Wilson-Fish Program) of state resettlement programs — away from public oversight – continues to accelerate.
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The part about “increased data collection” also raises my curiousity, although the ORR seems to already collect an awfully large amount of data yet problems remain in effect for years if not decades. For example, refugees are still not learning English for years since few instructors who speak their languages teach the ESL classes. Then there is the ongoing problem of refugee Medcaid-funded medical services that are done without interpreters. Also, years after refugees arrive they continue to lack basic information such as knowing about their Constitutional rights, about personal finances, etc.
