Archive for the ‘HHS’ Category
Posted by Christopher Coen on January 4, 2012
The Office of Refugee Resettlement is alerting people to a new scam that targets refugees:
The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) has been alerted to a new telephone scam apparently targeting Bhutanese refugees. A man identifying himself as a representative of the “Federal Grants Department” calls from a Washington, DC-based telephone number, (202) 436-9601, informing recently resettled refugees that they are eligible to receive $10,000 because they are refugees from Bhutan. To claim the money, they are instructed to produce a money order for $650, and call the telephone number for further instructions on where to send the money…
…At least one refugee has been coerced into making multiple payments as “processing fees”, totaling more than $5,000.
So far, reports are localized in Texas, but ORR advises everyone to be aware of this scam and avoid giving any personal information or payments to unknown callers… Read more here
Another type of scam, this one in Australia, involves people on the phone posing as utility salespeople, and telling refugees that they need to verify details of their accounts. See Brimbank Weekly article:
REFUGEES and migrants with little or poor English are being targeted by door-to-door utilities salespeople, leading to large debts and disconnection of services for some.
Footscray Community Legal Centre financial counsellor Anita Smith said unscrupulous practices by door-knockers were still continuing, despite a campaign to stamp out the practice that involved distributing “do not knock” stickers to residents…
…”One of the tactics the salespeople use is to say that people need to verify their details and then get them to answer questions on the phone. The people then find that their accounts have been changed.”
Others seek help after a visit from a salesperson posing as a government representative, who makes the resident feel compelled to switch.
Many Burmese Chin people in the west are having problems with salespeople… Read more here
Posted in Chin, Nepali Bhutanese, ORR, scams, Texas | Tagged: bhutanese, Nepali, refugees, resettlement, scams, telephone scam | 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 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 13, 2011
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), the largest refugee resettlement contractor in the U.S., has adopted a more combative style after failing to get their way on various government social services contracts. After refusing to recognize a new civil union law in Illinois, state government officials stopped working with Catholic Charities on adoptions and foster-care placements. Then, when the USCCB continued to refuse to simply refer human traffic victims – who are often raped and forced into prostitution by their captors – to the full legal range of permissible gynecological and obstetric care, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services decided not to renew the group’s human trafficking grant. The Bishops have decided to ignore critical social justice issues, such as the increasing poverty rate during these hard economic times, while pursuing a so-called religious liberty under attack agenda. They still don’t seem to get the fact that most non-Catholics – and no doubt many Catholics as well – no longer trust them after years of bruising revelations that many dioceses moved clergy involved in sexual abuse of children among parishes without alerting parents or police. An Associated Press article has more:
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops meets Monday in Baltimore for its national meeting feeling under siege…
Many Catholic academics, activists and parishioners say the bishops are overreacting. John Gehring of Faith in Public Life, an advocacy network for more liberal religious voters, has argued that in a pluralistic society, government officials can choose policies that
differ from church teaching without prejudice being a factor.
“Some perspective is needed here,” Gehring, a Catholic, wrote on his organization’s blog…
…The Health and Human Services Department [HHS] recently decided not to renew a contract held since 2006 by the bishops’ refugee services office to help victims of human trafficking…the women are often raped and forced into prostitution by their captors.
Sister Mary Ann Walsh, spokeswoman for the bishops, has called the decision discriminatory and a case of “ABC,” meaning anyone but Catholics. [HHS agency] officials vehemently deny any bias and say the sole criteria for evaluating potential grantees was which group could best serve the victims. Administration officials note that the vast network of Catholic social service nonprofits, including the bishops’ conference, receives hundreds of millions of dollars in government funding in amounts that have increased in the last couple of years…
…Scott Appleby, a prominent religious historian at the University of Notre Dame, says many church leaders have recently adopted “a more pugnacious style, much more of a kind of culture-wars attitude.” At the same time, the bishops’ have been stung by their loss of public influence from the sex abuse crisis and the years of bruising revelations that many dioceses moved guilty clergy among parishes without alerting parents or police.
“The church no longer receives deference or the hands-off attitude that it once had for many years. That’s gone,” Appleby said…
Critics of the bishops view the closer focus on religious liberty as another sign that church leaders are turning inward and away from promoting the church’s teaching on social justice.
Steven Krueger, national director of Catholic Democrats, pointed to the agenda released ahead of this week’s meeting, which included no public discussion of poverty despite the state of the economy. In the 1980s, the bishops issued an influential pastoral letter on Catholic principles and the economy, which church leaders reaffirmed in statements and education programs over the next decade.
“I think this certainly will represent to a vast majority of Catholics a tone-deafness on the part of many, many bishops,” Krueger said… Read more here
Posted in Catholic, churches, faith-based, health, HHS, human trafficking, Illinois, sexual abuse, USCCB | Tagged: Catholic Bishops, catholic church, Catholic social service, government contractor, Health and Human Services, HHS, Human trafficking, Scott Appleby, sexual abuse, USCCB | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on November 2, 2011
The wait for refugees in San Diego needing to take english as a
second language (ESL) classes has increased by nearly 14-times. The head of the US Department of HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (that would be Eskinder Negash) claims he “was caught off guard by the size of the problem”, and did not offer any immediate solutions. Yet, the California state government has been in deep financial troubles for two years now. An article in Fronteras has more:
SAN DIEGO — On a recent Friday morning, students of Iraqi descent practiced phrases they might need for a job interview in the language lab at Cuyamaca College…
…English as a Second Language, or ESL, courses, are in high demand at Cuyamaca, which is located in San Diego’s East County.
“We had enough students on the wait list to double the program,” said Alicia Muñoz, Cuyamaca’s ESL coordinator. In fact, over the past two years, the wait list for ESL classes has increased by nearly 14-times.
Most of the demand comes from recently arrived Iraqi refugees. More than 13,000 Iraqis have relocated to San Diego County since 2005, making it one of the largest refugee communities in the country…
…But budget cuts – affecting community colleges across the state – have forced schools to cancel classes in many subjects, including ESL. At the same time, the demand for these classes has skyrocketed. And it’s not just community colleges that are feeling the strain.
County Supervisor Dianne Jacob has gotten an earful of concerns from elementary schools, hospitals and other public institutions in her district. They all say that they don’t have the funds to address refugee needs, especially on shrinking budgets.
“There have not been adequate resources available to serve this population,” Jacob said.
The supervisor recently hosted a meeting of refugee resettlement officials and service providers to discuss the problem…
…After the meeting, the head of the federal office of refugee resettlement admitted he was caught off guard by the size of the problem. He didn’t offer any immediate solutions, but conversations between Jacob’s office and service providers are ongoing… Read more here
A year-and-a-half ago we wrote to the ORR about a refugee who was unable to use medical health care in Sacramento – that too, explained a California state official, was related to budget problems. If the ORR had investigated the case – or even talked to anyone in California – wouldn’t they have discovered the budget problems by now, and the effects on refugees? How do they manage to be completely out of touch with the problems that refugees in San Diego (the largest resettlement site in the US) are experiencing?
Another issue we put in a complaint to the ORR about is the issue of discrimination in hiring by faith-based refugee resettlement agencies (World Relief and Catholic Charities). World Relief claimed they could not hire a Muslim former refugee in Washington state because “he might not feel comfortable while they prayed at staff meetings.” Yet, federal regulations prohibit worship on the public dime. The ORR claimed it was investigating, yet has stonewalled since we placed the complaint in April 2010. We wrote once again in April 2011 to find out what progress they were making, Mr. Negash’s Deputy Director, Ken Tota, did not even bother to respond.
Posted in Chaldean, discrimination in hiring, ESL & ELL, evangelical, funding, Iraqi, language, ORR, Sacramento, San Diego, World Relief | Tagged: English as a Second Language, Eskinder Negash, ESL, Iraqi, Ken Tota, Office of Refugee Resettlement, ORR, refugees, resettlement, SanDiego | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on October 11, 2011
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops lost its bid to continue providing services to victims of human trafficking for what it claims “may be the Obama Administration’s support for abortion rights.” Apparently it didn’t occur to them that abortion is legal. Why should human trafficking victims be denied access to the full range of legally permissible gynecological and obstetric care that everyone else is? Simply to suit this federal contractor’s religious beliefs? Where would that end if each contractor could have that freedom? Unfortunately, many victims of human trafficking are raped and need access to a wide range of services – including abortions and birth control. An article at Bloomberg News has the story:
…The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was awarded a five- year contract that paid it $19 million to coordinate the services during the administration of President George W. Bush.
The contract was extended briefly in March, and the group said it was informed recently that its grant request to continue the work was turned down. Starting today, three other non-profit groups will provide case-management services for victims such as helping them obtain food, clothing and access to medical care…
Marrianne McMullen, spokeswoman for the U.S. Health and Human Services department’s Administration for Children and Families [said]
“HHS’s primary focus in serving victims of human trafficking is ensuring that they have access to the high quality and comprehensive case management services they need,” she said in an e-mail. “These are individuals who have endured traumatic experiences in many cases and who face uniquely complex challenges.”
HHS’s written instructions for groups seeking grants through the Trafficking Victims Protection Act said that the agency would give “strong preference” to applicants willing to offer referrals for the “full range of legally permissible gynecological and obstetric care,”
including family planning services.
The American Civil Liberties Union said in a 2009 lawsuit that the contract with the Catholic groups was unconstitutional because the bishops group won’t coordinate or refer people for medical services such as abortion that conflict with its religious teachings.
“We applaud the federal government for recognizing that trafficking victims need reproductive-health [services] and making awards based on those needs,” Brigitte Amiri, an attorney for the ACLU, said in an interview. “This has little to do with religion and everything to do with what the trafficking victims need.”
The three groups received grants worth a total of about $5 million for the first year, with a possibility of two additional years. The three are Tapestri of Atlanta, Heartland Human Care Services of Chicago and the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants of Washington… Read more here
Posted in Catholic, HHS, human trafficking, USCCB | Tagged: ACLU, federal contractors, gynecological care, Human trafficking, obstetrics, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops | 3 Comments »
Posted by Christopher Coen on October 3, 2011
The case involving repeated sexual assaults of an 8-year-old refugee boy at a Catholic Charities Galveston-Houston shelter – and the agency’s subsequent cover-up of the case – continues to unfold. The agency won’t answer further questions on the cover-up, including whether the 8-year-old was separated from the two older boys after the assault, how many other children reported witnessing the abuse, what kind of treatment was provided for them and when. Its also seems that government oversight agencies have only been able to slowly dredge out details of the case from Catholic Charities, and that the faith-based agency continues to withhold many key details. It’s also now clear that a Texas state oversight agency did not have a mere “technical glitch” causing closure of the case without investigation, but had a series of failures – putting children at great ongoing risk. Another article in the Houston Chronicle reveals more details of the case.
…In the hours and days after a staff member interrupted the July 1 assault in the upstairs room, the senior management of the Catholic Charities’ program failed to get the boy medical treatment, doctored incident reports and tried to minimize what had occurred in order to “protect the program,” according to a federal report.
But it was not just the boy’s caretakers who stumbled, state and local law enforcement records show. A worker for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services intake system for reports of potential abuse and neglect also made a mistake, accidentally delaying an outside investigation into what happened for nearly two weeks.
After the federal government brought that error to the state’s attention, the case was referred to the wrong agency, leaving it in limbo until it landed with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in August.
In the end, children’s advocates say there is blame to go around, calling for accountability for the shelter program management, who are now part of a criminal investigation. They also called for a review of the state’s intake system to ensure that technical problems with law enforcement notification are quickly fixed.
“Certainly some fault has to go to St. Michael’s for what happened, but if … this reporting went awry and was misdirected in some sort of way, just imagine the hurt that might have been caused to a number of these kids by something not happening soon enough,” said Bob Sanborn, president and CEO of the Houston-based nonprofit Children at Risk.
“When it comes to kids, we need to take immediate action.”…
…The shelter management did not call the sheriff’s office, but they did call the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) Statewide Intake Division roughly six hours after the incident, at 6:34 p.m……any report to that state hotline reporting potential abuse or neglect should have triggered a chain of events, including notification of the licensing division for DFPS and a fax or email notification to local law enforcement, said Patrick Crimmins, a DFPS spokesman.
But the worker at the state intake center was confused and couldn’t immediately find a state license for St. Michael’s, Crimmins said. The intake report was “mistakenly closed” without notifying the licensing division or law enforcement about any incident at St. Michael’s, he said…
…On July 13, ORR called the state to check on the status of its investigation, but state licensing officials still had no idea what happened at the shelter.
They re-opened the initial July 1 report and sent out a state monitor to investigate within 72 hours. But the automatic notification system again failed, this time referring the report to the wrong agency, the Houston Police Department. The shelter sits near the city-county line but is within the jurisdiction of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office…
…By mid-August, ORR was suspicious enough about what happened at the shelter that day to send a team of monitors to Houston. They issued a scathing report that documented a reporting delay, failure to seek medical care and the doctoring of incident reports, notifying Catholic Charities on Sept. 8 that they would remove all children from their care, at least temporarily…
…Catholic Charities still refuses to answer several key questions about the incident, including whether the 8-year-old was separated from the two older boys after the assault, how many other children reported witnessing the abuse and what kind of treatment was provided for them and when… Read more here
Catholic Charities Galveston-Houston is the agency which was the subject of complaints from gay Iraqi refugees in 2010, and allegations that one of its workers sexually assaulted an 11-year-old refugee boy in 2007.
Posted in Catholic, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, child protective services, faith-based, Houston, ORR, police, sexual abuse | Tagged: catholic charities, Department of Family and Protective Services, DFPS, houston, Office of Refugee Resettlement, ORR, police, protective services, refugees, resettlement, sexual abuse, sexual assault, St. Michael's | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on September 28, 2011
It turns out that not only did Catholic Charities Galveston-Houston not report an incident involving the sexual assault of a refugee boy to the ORR until July 5 (four days after it occurred on July 1) — and did not mention the sexual assault part – but law enforcement was not notified until over a month later, on August 5. The Texas protective services, which claims that Catholic Charities notified it within 24 hours of the assault as required, claims to have closed its investigation due to a “technical glitch”, but reopened the case when Catholic Charities inquired about the investigation on July 13. The protective services investigation then found that the shelter left children unsupervised and children were acting out inappropriately. Records also showed a worker supervising children when that worker was actually off the clock. A report at Houston’s KPRC Channel-2 details what happened:
HOUSTON — An 8-year-old boy said he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by two boys at a home for children.
The boy said a 10-year-old and an 11-year-old boy assaulted him at the St. Michael’s Home for Children, which is run by Catholic Charities. The home cares for children who are refugees from foreign countries.
Harris County sheriff’s deputies said a worker at the home caught a 10-year-old molesting an 8-year-old in July. The 8-year-old later claimed he was also molested by an 11-year-old.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, which licenses the home, launched an investigation and found children unsupervised and children acting out inappropriately. Records show a worker supervising children when that worker was actually off the clock.
The federal Office of Refugee Resettlement also launched an investigation. It removed all but five children staying in the home. They were working on new living arrangements for those children.
Investigators said Catholic Charities immediately notified the state of the claims. The state closed its investigation after a technical glitch, but when Catholic Charities inquired about the investigation on July 13, the case was reopened.
Deputies said they were not notified of the alleged incidents until Aug. 5… Read more here
An updated version of the Houston Chronicle article from Monday adds further details.
Posted in Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, child protective services, children, faith-based, Houston, ORR, sexual abuse | Tagged: catholic charities, houston, law enforcement, protective services, refugees, resettlement, St. Michael's Home for Children, technical glitch, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on September 27, 2011
An incident at a Catholic Charities shelter in Houston that media outlets previously reported as “sexual activity” between three children is now being reported as a sexual assault. An investigation by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) found that Catholic Charities did not report the July 1 sexual assault of a boy until four days later, nor did they seek medical treatment for the child. Catholic Charities management also did a cover-up, including doctoring of first reports. An article at UPI reports on the ORR investigation:
HOUSTON, Sept. 26 (UPI) — Federal officials were removing children and teens from three Houston shelters after learning the sexual assault of a child at one facility was covered up.
As of Friday, only five of 72 children and teens, mostly refugees, remained in the three Catholic Charities shelters, the Houston Chronicle reported.
An investigation by the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement found that Catholic Charities did not report the July 1 sexual assault of a young boy at a St. Michael’s shelter until July 5 and also failed to get the boy medical attention until the latter date.
“CCGH staff had knowledge that a [child] had been anally penetrated as the result of a sexual assault … and did not seek medical treatment,” a report by the office states. “Program staff should have observed that a sexual assault of a child is grounds for immediate medical attention.”
Federal investigators conducted an unannounced visit to the site of the sexual assault in August and found that initial reports of the attack had been doctored.
“The ORR monitors found significant concerns, including the fact that management had full knowledge of the extent of the assault and submitted erroneous … reports to this office, which deliberately misled ORR,” the agency’s director wrote in a Sept. 8 letter to the president of Catholic Charities… Read more here
An article in the Houston Chronicle reports that Catholic Charities management also pressured staffers to withhold details from investigators.
Posted in Catholic, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, child protective services, children, faith-based, health, Houston, medical care, ORR, sexual abuse | Tagged: catholic charities, chilren, cover-up, doctored documents, houston, Office of Refugee Resettlement, ORR, refugees, sexual abuse, sexual assault | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on September 16, 2011
The U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement will temporarily remove all the immigrant and refugee children from St. Michael’s Home for Children operated by Catholic Charities in Houston due to an investigation into “sexual activity” involving three children at one of the organization’s shelters. The organization allegedly assigned staff members in charge of supervising children with other assignments, which left the children to their own devices. An article in the Houston Chronicle has the story:
Federal authorities plan to temporarily remove all of the immigrant and refugee children from St. Michael’s Home for Children operated by Catholic Charities in Houston amid an investigation into “sexual activity” involving three children in one of the organization’s shelters, officials said.
The U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement, which places children and teenagers caught crossing the border without family members into temporary care, so far has removed 22 of the 46 children housed at the three shelters in Houston and plans to continue removing the rest, officials with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston said Friday.
Kenneth Wolfe, an ORR spokesman, said the agency made the decision to temporarily remove the children based on its own monitoring and a state investigation…
…Patrick Crimmins, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, said the state conducted an investigation after being notified of the incident on July 13. The state investigator documented deficiencies at the facility, including faulting the administrator for assigning staff members in charge of supervising children with other assignments, which left the children alone “where they acted out inappropriately.”…
…U.S. immigration officials placed 6,074 immigrant and refugee children in the care of ORR in 2009, the most recent data available. More than half of those – some 3,200 – were detained in Texas, the statistics show… Read more here
Posted in Catholic, child protective services, children, faith-based, Houston, ORR, public/private partnership | Tagged: catholic charities, chilren, houston, immigrant, Office of Refugee Resettlement, ORR, refugees, resettlement, St. Michael's Home for Children, Texas | Leave a Comment »
Christopher Coen
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